Barry Schwartz's The Paradox Of Choice

Choices, the story writen by Susan Kerslake is about how the choices that we make everyday affect who we are and how our life can change by making the wrong decission. But is it always a bad decission? is it always our fault?

During this project, my class and I learned many examples of choices and consequences made by people throughout every day life. One specific character in the book, Erik Fisher, made choices that not only affected himself, but everyone around him negatively. Fortunately enough, as bad as these choices were; they did cause a few good outcomes.

The Unbearable lightness of choosing “Because you are in control of your life. Don't ever forget that. You are what you are because of the conscious and subconscious choices you have made.” -Barbara Hall, A Summons to New Orleans, 2000 I personally agree with the writer Jon Spayde on all the aspects he has mentioned in this paper. The writer has discoursed various facets regarding the importance of alternatives in one’s life. But, a very significant point mentioned in this article is, that when a certain individual is in a position to make his own choices or take his own decisions he must keep in mind that he alone will not be the one to face the consequences, but many people will be a part of his decisions. So one must give a serious thought when making a choice, which may have an impact not just on one life but, on the lives of many others. Mr. Spayde points out the fact, that having a choice is the luxury of the privileged class. The unprivileged class cannot afford the luxury of choice. Now the situation is not that bad but we all know that they have limited choices and this lack of choice causes a problem for them in certain situations. According to my own experience, though the lack of choices may cause hurdles at times, still, there deficiency is sometimes ‘a blessing in disguise’. When a person is confined to a certain number of options he has no other way out, but to choose amongst them. This might be the making of an individual. Like we consider an example of a

I am sorry for them.” Having more choices doesn’t mean that we are happier, but the opposite. The essay “Tyranny of Choice” Schwartz talks about choices and the impacts that it can have on people and having too many choices can be bad. In last 30 years about 14 million people are less happy and suicide rate are higher than before.

On April 10th, 2015, two Detroit police officers in the city’s Narcotics Division were charged with robbing drug dealers during police searches performed over a four-year period. Due to their wide knowledge of narcotics, they were able to make a large profit by reselling the stolen drugs. They sold the drugs through private parties that included underground operations with other drug dealers in the state. The federal indictment was revealed to be eight-counts which included: possession with intent to distribute five or more kilograms of cocaine, robbery, extortion, possession of firearms and drug trafficking (Cook, 2015).

Having choices can sometime leave a negative result that could affect others. Because of some individuals who could have caused problems for society,or because of strict individuals working for the government, choices are sometimes limited to the privileged. But it can cause problems for individuals who need the ability to make their own choices for their own sake.

Having a plethora of choice may appear to promote the freedom of individuals, but when the quantity of choices a person is required to make becomes overloaded, the pressure builds and that “sense of freedom” becomes a sense of entrapment. There are so many choices available that there are going to be both

"American Rhetoric: Ronald Reagan -- A Time for Choosing." American Rhetoric: The Power of Oratory in the United States. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Oct. 2013.

“There was no big-screen television or voice-controlled computer. Just a math book, a pad of yellow paper.” (p.109) . Justin also wears thick glasses. Justin has an eye problem which couldn’t be healed in a world without free trade. But as Dave tells the reader, Justin is only wearing the glasses because the “people Upstairs” made this happen. Justin normally doesn’t wear glasses at all, he “would have lost his eyesight entirely”.(p.110) The company Merck will only be able to develop the medicine Justin needed in a world of free trade. Otherwise America would be too busy by doing everything for itself and there wouldn’t be “enough people, machines, and land to go around to make everything as cheaply as could be made under free trade.”(p47)

“Hesitation was fatal. Choose.” Robert Galbraith had successfully written another fantastic book in the Cormoran Strike after his first debut novel, The Cuckoo's Calling which soon adapts for major TV drama for BBC One starring by Tom Burke as Cormoran Strike and Holliday Grainger as Robin Ellacott photo by J.K. Rowling The Silkworm is about Owen Quine goes missing when his wife calls for help from private detective Cormoran Strike. At first, she thinks that he just gone off by himself for a few days (like what he has done before) and the wife wants Cormoran to find him for her.

Women have been working for protection of our country since the beginning American revolution directly or indirectly. Women have been serving in every conflict like Revolutionary war, the American Civil War, the World War I, the World War II, the Spanish-American War , the Vietnam War, the Persian Gulf War, Korean and Vietnam war and other wars as well. Women have been helping US military from early days, as a cooks and nurses for the military and to the combat roles today. Therefore, even in early days women’s help US military directly or indirectly . Women role in military have progressed day by day. Women in the United States have sturdy showed their duty in US military combat for the safety and protection of nation ,so they should serve in military combat.

Dr. William Glasser was a distinguished psychiatrist and author known for his distinctive views about mental illness. Glasser broke away from the traditional model of psychotherapy in the early 1960s to develop his own model of counseling. Dr. Glasser began with the development of therapy before he developed his theoretical stance. Glasser created what is known as Reality Therapy. Glasser first defined Reality Therapy as “a therapy that leads all patients toward reality, towards grappling successfully with tangible and intangible aspects of the real world” (p.6).

The Myth of Choice: How Junk-Food Marketers Target Our Kids and “Marketing to kids gets more savvy with new technologies” show how children are targets in marketing. They both show the bad points marketers do to get children to buy their product. For example, on Webkinz they have you watch free ads to earn virtual money but they get money every time you click the “free ad” button on the site while in The Myth of Choice: How Junk-Food Marketers Target Our Kids, Anna Lappe from Real Food Media Project mentions that junk food is etched in the kid’s mind. In Myth of of Choice: How Junk-Food Marketers Target Our Kids shows how marketers target kids in the case of junk food while “Marketing to kids gets more savvy with new technologies” shows how

Choices are an important part of everyone’s lives and the choices we make can reflex who we are as individuals. Choice and the ability to choose are excellent and can represent a sense of freedom. Schwartz’s and Iyengard’s analysis on choice focused on the effects of choice in people and how people react and deal with it. Schwartz’s Official Dogma and explanation of how Americans act in response to choice making is the most relatable to individuals and clearly chows the consequences of too much choice. His analysis can assist to people realize that maybe because we have more choice doesn’t necessarily mean we will make us happier or the best decision will be made. Understanding the consequences of too much choice can possibly make individuals improve the negative effects it can have and make us happier with our

Humans live in a world in which every day they encounter numerous choices. The way they decide and the outcomes of their decisions define their lives. Their day to day life essentially revolves around the choices they make. As a whole, a community benefits or suffers from the outcomes of its choices. Freedom of choice is the grant to an individual or community to make its own choices out of free will and without restrictions (Pereboom,2003). This is essay will discuss that though freedom choice leads to variety in life, it does not necessarily guarantee satisfaction. It will also argue that although some choice is undoubtedly better than none, more is not always better than less. It will then consider the implications of the paradox of