Cut the number of choices you make each day. Your brain will thank you.
The idea that more choice is better is baked into Western culture, but research shows that having more options can make people anxious, indecisive and, paradoxically, less happy with what they pick, said Barry Schwartz, an emeritus psychology professor at Swarthmore University and author of “The Paradox of Choice.”
“There have been hundreds of studies showing that there can be too much of a good thing,” Schwartz said.
(snip)
The brain doesn’t like making decisions
Daniel Willingham, a psychology professor and neuroscience researcher at the University of Virginia, said the phenomenon occurs because the brain is designed to save people from having to think.
Problem-solving requires more energy than relying on memory, a fact that has roots in evolutionary survival mode, Willingham said. When faced with a goal, whether it be an immediate need like responding to a threat or something longer term like finding shelter, the mind first searches for what’s worked before. The problem-solving part of the brain only kicks in afterward.
“Another way to put it is that if you’re thinking, things are not going well,” he said.
Instead of being liberated by all this choice, you’re paralyzed,” he said. “You can do anything, and you can’t figure out which of those many things to do.”
https://apnews.com/article/too-many-choices-making-decisions-8ae0bfaac1d51cc5fc7b2e59336ff0dd
****does anyone else stress out when faced with way too many choices such as when deciding on an insurance plan, which car to buy, which cell phone plan should I get, etc. it’s overwhelming sometimes the vast aisles of grocery items we have to choose from, too.
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