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Paradox of Choice

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Submitted By mspeigh1
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As a person with the ability and the rights to choose I always looked at the pro’s of choice and never dwelled on the cons of it. When I thought about choice I thought about freedom and now my view has changed. Overall the lecture by Barry Schwartz opened my eyes to something new. His main idea was that choice has made us more paralyzed and more dissatisfied. Schwartz explains the cons of having the ability to choose in the modern, affluent, western society. He used an example that I can relate to when he talked about buying a pair of jeans and how when he was younger there was on type of jeans and now there are so many choices. I know when I go to buy a pair of jeans and I realize I do not like them and never wear them I usually get mad at myself because I chose to buy them.
Schwartz was very entertaining and does a good job engaging with the audience. Not only was Schwartz appealing to the audience, I also seemed to have an interest in his overall lecture. He used some humorous short picture cartoons that made me laugh a little bit. At first I thought the lecture was going to be a bore but after watching it I realized I was wrong. I appreciated the fact that he used a lot of short picture cartoons that was funny to help support and get his point across to the entire audience.
I somewhat agree with Schwartz idea when he stated that choice leaves us dissatisfied because just this past weekend I went shopping for a pair of running sneakers for exercising purposes. There were so many sneakers different shapes, sizes, prices and brands to choose from. I would try on one pair of running sneakers and I would like the sneakers color and style but just did not like how the sneakers did not feel as comfortable as another pair of running sneakersI recently tried. The price on some of the pairs of running sneakers eliminated a percentage of the running sneakers for being a choice because I chose to spend between a certain budget because I also made a choice to buy a pair of running sneakers to get started exercising. The power of choice just made things complicated. Having to choose the right pair of running sneakers took at least two hours and I was being rushed by my mother. On the greyhound while I was coming back to Savannah after purchasing the running sneakers I felt that maybe I should have gotten one of the other pairs of sneakers and I was feeling dissatisfied with my choice. I feel like if there was one type of running shoes I would have not taken so long in the store and whether I liked the sneakers or did not like the running sneakers it would not have been a big deal simply because it is not like I could have done better or spent less. There would be no other running sneakers to compare the pair of running sneakers I purchased the first time with.
Schwartz also mentioned in the lecture that his idea does not pertain to parts of the world where the problem is that they have too little choice. I feel that too much choice is not a beneficial way of life and too little choice is also not the best way to live.

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