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The Paradox of Choice. Why More is Less by Barry Schwartz (2004)
, 4 Oct 2014
Not
only that. Schwartz explains with great simplicity why certain people
are always happy with their choices and others are never so. This fact
relates to two personality types: the maximiser (who thinks: "I want the
best in life and I have to search and select it") and the
good-enough-izer (who thinks: "I need this and I get something that is
good enough for my needs"). Maximisers will be always stressed about
selecting something, it will take them ages to select something, and
when they select it, they will not be happy because anything better will
come up, which will make them feel imperfect and anxious again. On the
contrary, the other type people want to attend to their needs in a quick
personalised way, even if something is not the best possible option.
The roots of happiness, therefore, are not based on choice and money,
but on knowing what you want and getting it.
Fascinating eh? Yes, totally. However, you don't need to buy the book. I have already explained to you the core of what the book says in two paragraphs. There is not more to it. Schwartz has taken an idea that was first proposed and discussed by the famous Spanish Philosopher José Ortega y Gasset, and make it accessible to the masses, and meaningful to our post-modern society. Schwartz certainly succeeds at making the subject approachable to the masses by explaining, in a very simple way, when and how we choose, and how we approach choice from a vital and emotional point of view. However, writing page after page repeating himself at nauseam, and giving example after example after example... is, how to put it?, too much choice of examples... Ha!
Fascinating eh? Yes, totally. However, you don't need to buy the book. I have already explained to you the core of what the book says in two paragraphs. There is not more to it. Schwartz has taken an idea that was first proposed and discussed by the famous Spanish Philosopher José Ortega y Gasset, and make it accessible to the masses, and meaningful to our post-modern society. Schwartz certainly succeeds at making the subject approachable to the masses by explaining, in a very simple way, when and how we choose, and how we approach choice from a vital and emotional point of view. However, writing page after page repeating himself at nauseam, and giving example after example after example... is, how to put it?, too much choice of examples... Ha!
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The Paradox of Choice Why More is Less
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