Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 302
EAN: 9780060005696
ISBN: 0060005696
Label: Harper Perennial
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 304
Publication Date: January 01, 2005
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Release Date: January 18, 2005
Sales Rank: 2254
Studio: Harper Perennial

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Editorial Review:

Product Description:


In the spirit of Alvin Toffler’s Future Shock, a social critique of our obsession with choice, and how it contributes to anxiety, dissatisfaction and regret. This paperback includes a new P.S. section with author interviews, insights, features, suggested readings, and more.



Whether we’re buying a pair of jeans, ordering a cup of coffee, selecting a long-distance carrier, applying to college, choosing a doctor, or setting up a 401(k), everyday decisions--both big and small--have become increasingly complex due to the overwhelming abundance of choice with which we are presented.

We assume that more choice means better options and greater satisfaction. But beware of excessive choice: choice overload can make you question the decisions you make before you even make them, it can set you up for unrealistically high expectations, and it can make you blame yourself for any and all failures. In the long run, this can lead to decision-making paralysis, anxiety, and perpetual stress. And, in a culture that tells us that there is no excuse for falling short of perfection when your options are limitless, too much choice can lead to clinical depression.

In The Paradox of Choice, Barry Schwartz explains at what point choice--the hallmark of individual freedom and self-determination that we so cherish--becomes detrimental to our psychological and emotional well-being. In accessible, engaging, and anecdotal prose, Schwartz shows how the dramatic explosion in choice--from the mundane to the profound challenges of balancing career, family, and individual needs--has paradoxically become a problem instead of a solution. Schwartz also shows how our obsession with choice encourages us to seek that which makes us feel worse.

By synthesizing current research in the social sciences, Schwartz makes the counterintuitive case that eliminating choices can greatly reduce the stress, anxiety, and busyness of our lives. He offers eleven practical steps on how to limit choices to a manageable number, have the discipline to focus on the important ones and ignore the rest, and ultimately derive greater satisfaction from the choices you have to make.







Rating: - An interesting read, but...
...but I came away thinking the author did not prove his subtitle. He did prove "Why More is Less" but I don't think he showed "How the Culture of Abundance Robs Us of Satisfaction". I believe a more accurate (although less appealing) subtitle may have been "How the Culture of Abundance Allows Unrepentant Maximizers to Drive Themselves Crazy".

Full disclosure - I am a Satisficer. I scored very low on his test on page 80. Consequently I don't see how fewer choices in the culture at ... Read More

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Rating: - Too much freedom of choice is bad for us
Summary:

While having some freedom of choice is important to our well-being, having hundreds of options to choose from in every aspect of our lives, as we do in the modern world, is bad for us. With too many choices, we feel become anxious about finding the very best one, are burdened with a greater sense of responsibility for the consequences, spend large amounts of time and effort on making decisions, and regret lost opportunities after making our choice. In addition, we experience ... Read More

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Rating: - More IS Less, it appears
After reading this book, it really does bring home the point that having more stuff to choose from does not necessarily make for a better life. Sometimes it is just one big hassle to have to choose among a bunch of choices, most of which are just variations of other choices.
With the current economic downturn, maybe it is time to reaccess this over the top situation. People will find that there really is a whole lot more important than 35 kinds of laundry detergent on the shelf at the local ... Read More

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Rating: - Amazingly insightful
For some days after reading it, I was quoting bits of it to people - it was really eye opening about many of the whys of all sorts of things that we do. Everything we do all the time involves decisions between choices(get out of bed or sleep in...) and being aware of some of the things that effect those decisions can only be helpful. And how many of the things we just take for granted or assume, it turns out that when they do studies to see if it is true, well, our assumptions are wrong.

Read More

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Rating: - Excellent and easy to read
All the information in this book rings true and a great read for those who want to simply and know that the perfect choice is not always the one that makes us the happiest if you spend all your time dwelling on finding it. If you spend a lot of time making decisions you may want to consider picking up this book. You won't be disappointed. Nice read.

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