The Paradox of Choice

I’ve got a bad back this morning so I’m going to do a “copy & paste” blog posting this morning. The embedded video below is great, and dovetails nicely with my previous post on Manufacturing Happiness. Enjoy!

“Psychologist Barry Schwartz takes aim at a central belief of western societies: that freedom of choice leads to personal happiness. In Schwartz’s estimation, all that choice is making us miserable. We set unreasonably high expectations, question our choices before we even make them, and blame our failures entirely on ourselves. His relatable examples, from consumer products (jeans, TVs, salad dressings) to lifestyle choices (where to live, what job to take, whom and when to marry), underscore this central point: Too many choices undermine happiness.” – from the TED website

“The Secret to happiness is low expectations.” Low expectations make it much easier to be pleasantly surprised.

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