The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz

The full title of the book is: The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less, How the Culture of Abundance Robs Us of Satisfaction. Here it is on Amazon.

Devin determined… this book is a must-read. Some parts get a little complicated for just a quick read. But, at 240 pages this is a a fun look at the societal and psychological issues we face.

The areas explored are summed up with the following:

…our experience of choice as a burden rather than a privilege is not a simple phenomenon. Rather it is the result of a complex interaction among many psychological processes that permeate our culture, including rising expectations, awareness of opportunity costs, aversion to trade-offs, adaptation, regret, self-blame, the tendency to engage in social comparisons, and maximizing.

The last chapter goes on to highlight and explain how we can try to avoid these issues (regret leading to depression, leading to suicide; comparing to neighbors and having regret; post-decision regret). A lot of it has to do with accepting “good enough” which Scott Adams recently talked about on his blog.

Again, I recommend the book because it may help you see your decisions a little differently. At the same time, it helps understand the psychology behind others’ decisions.

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About Devin Reams

My name is Devin Reams and I founded this site to provide a useful news and review resource for Colorado skiers and snowboarders (and mountain enthusiasts). I've been skiing since I was a little kid (we moved out here when I was five years old) and I plan to ski for years beyond that. Although cosnow is not my full-time job it is my full-time winter hobby. I've been an "Epic Local" passholder since 2006 (when it was called a "Colorado Pass" or "Five Mountain Pass"). My favorite resorts are Beaver Creek and Breckenridge.

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