The Paradox of Choice - Why More is Less - by Barry Schwartz | Derek Sivers

With limitless choice, we produce better results with our decisions than we would in a more limited world, but we feel worse about them.

When people have no choice, life is almost unbearable. As the number of choices increase, the autonomy, control, and liberation this variety brings are powerful and positive. But as the number of choices keeps growing, negative aspects of having a multitude of options begin to appear. As the number of choices grows further, the negatives escalate until we become overloaded. At this point, choice no longer liberates, but debilitates.

There is no denying that choice improves the quality of our lives. It enables us to control our destinies and to come close to getting exactly what we want out of any situation.

The fact that some choice is good doesn’t mean that more choice is better.