expectations v. happiness

It was suggested that I look up a book called The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz. In my search, I found this video of him explaining his theory. He says that more choice results in less satisfaction and jokes that the key to happiness is low expectations. In another lecture, he referenced a Harvard Center for Business and Government paper titled The Laws of Libertarian Paternalism.

They seem to suggest that the present-day explosion of unbridled choice is frustrating the pursuit of happiness. I haven’t studied the paper yet, but it sounds like they’re saying that the role of corporations, advisors, and government is not to promote or restrict choice, but to offer recommendations to assist those (which is almost everyone) who do not take the time or have the patience to sift through all the options and make a decision, and so are more likely to simply not make a decision — when not making a decision is to their own detriment, that those in leadership roles have a responsibility to help make those choices less daunting.

I expect this has huge insights on how people make choices during elections and complex exercises such as community planning.



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