Jeanne's review of The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less
The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less
by Barry Schwartz
Excellent book that further reinforces my goal to quit being an average American consumer.
Some favorite quotes:
"Because of adaptation, enthusiasm about postive experiences doesn't sustain itself. And what's worse, people seem generally unable to anticipate that this process of adaptation will take place. The waning of pleasure or enjoyment over time always seems to come as an unpleasant surprise."
See- you're not going to enjoy that new car as much as you think you will.
"The result of having pleasure turn into comfort is disappointment [adaptation:], and the disappointment will be especially severe when the goods we are consuming are "durable" goods, such as cars, houses, stereo systems, elegant clothes, jewelry, and computers. When the brief period of real enthusiasm and pleasure wanes, people will have these thigns around them -- as a constant reminder that consumption isn't all it's cracked up to be... Faced with this inevitable disappointmen...more
Excellent book that further reinforces my goal to quit being an average American consumer.
Some favorite quotes:
"Because of adaptation, enthusiasm about postive experiences doesn't sustain itself. And what's worse, people seem generally unable to anticipate that this process of adaptation will take place. The waning of pleasure or enjoyment over time always seems to come as an unpleasant surprise."
See- you're not going to enjoy that new car as much as you think you will.
"The result of having pleasure turn into comfort is disappointment [adaptation:], and the disappointment will be especially severe when the goods we are consuming are "durable" goods, such as cars, houses, stereo systems, elegant clothes, jewelry, and computers. When the brief period of real enthusiasm and pleasure wanes, people will have these thigns around them -- as a constant reminder that consumption isn't all it's cracked up to be... Faced with this inevitable disappointment, what do people do?... Most are driven instead to pursue novelty... In time, these new commodities also will lose their intensity, but people still get caught up in the chase..."
Basically, pleasure turns into comfort, and comfort doesn't make us happy. So, we try to get bigger and better things to give us the high of pleasure. We adapt to that pleasure, turning it into comfort, and the cycle starts all over again.
"... unlike adaptation, the experience of gratitude is something we can affect directly. Experiencing and expressing gratitude actually gets easier with practice. By causing us to focus on how much better our lives are than thye could have been, or were before, the disappointment that adaptation brings in tis wake can be blunted."
Long story short - be grateful.
"One way of achieving this goal [keeping expectations modest:] is by keeping wonderful experiences rare. No matter what you can afford, save great wine for special occasions, No matter what you can afford, make that perfectly cut, elegantly styled, silk blouse a special treat. This may seem like an exercise in self-denial, but I don't think it is. On the contrary, it's a way to make sure that you can continue to experience pleasure. What's the point of great meals, great wines, and great blouses if they don't make you feel great?"
Love this quote - to me, this is why we need to keep Christmas in December (and not advertised starting in October). I'm going to stew on this a bit more because I know that this applies to my life in more ways than one.
And while I want to quote an entire sub-chapter titled "Learn to Love Contraints", I'll try to sum it up. In a nutshell, the sheer number of choices available to us is ever increasing. Because of these choices, we are more likely to experience an entire array of negative feelings (regret, comparison, adaptation, and expectations) with every choice. By self-limiting our choices, we free up time and attention to thinking about choices that really matter. Self-limited choices can also become habits. For example, you make the choice to always wear a seat belt. After a while, you don't even consciously make the choice to wear a seat belt - it has become habit. From someone that resists habits and routines, I'm finding more and more evidence that the very things I'm resisting are perhaps that very things that will allow me greater freedom....less
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