Are options good for us or having no-options is a better state? Until now I was under the impression that options are
good and help us in making the best possible decision. But after reading an article, I realized the way too many cooks spoil the broth, too many options spoil the brain.
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| Image courtesy: Google |
For instance there are two persons: A and B who want to buy a jar of pickles. They go to two
stores Store1 (that offers variety of pickles in different brands) and Store2
(where there are only three variety of pickle in one brand) respectively.
Person A will tend to look at all the options in Store1, read the labels, go through all
brands to check prices and brainstorm on what pickle he should buy. He may end up
in buying more than he actually needs or something new that he has never tried before (that may turn out to be a blunder choice). On the other hand Person B will go into Store2, in
less than a minute he will make up his mind on what to buy and will come out.
We can conclude two things from above:1. Too many options lead to wastage of time.
2. They lead to wastage of money
This was one example. In the world of perfect competition we are living in swarm of choices. From Bakery shops, clothes, eateries to fans, switches etc. our life is full of options; where we waste a huge amount of our time in making selection. We want to pick the best one from every lot we are being offered.
Do we really need too many options in everything?
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| Image courtesy: Google |
Does it happen with you too?
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| O is for Options on 17 April, A to Z Challenge. |
In the said example person A might take a chance and pick a pickle he never tried and it may be the best he had ever! in such a case, person B is missing out because of lack of choice! Happiness is subject to a lot of things including luck, so why blame choice alone :)
ReplyDeleteYes Anil you are right, there is a fair chance of exploring something new and amazing with the given choices. But these choices if are infinite have their drawbacks. Luck and destiny etc are a few things that are subject to personal frame of mind.
DeleteIf I choose a wrong product and suffer its side effects- I may blame it on my lack of judgement for picking up a wrong product; other person in same situation may call it his bad luck!
Yes, it does happen to me and even more so to my husband!!
ReplyDeleteThank you Kristin for your feedback.
Deletehappens :) i get totally confused wen given with options.. but dnt u think widout options, n always havin d same, life would be monotonous? c again d confusion :-D
ReplyDeletehttp://swathishenoy.blogspot.in/2014/04/o-for-optimism.html?m=1
a-z participant
Lol Swathi in a way you are right. But exponential increase in the number of choices waste so much of our time in selection... I am just trying to understand its negatives!
DeleteIt is very common and it does happens, too many choices, i find difficult to handle, good post ! very relevant for our lives !
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Mam... It sometimes become difficult to cope up with so many choices. Other times it is like an art gallery where you savior the view of commodities on display! :D
DeleteI feel options spoil the person, even if you choose one you will always think about what if the other option was selected. I personally performed best when I have a single option. I feel though we think it's luxury to have options but it always create confusion and never leads to satisfaction :)
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely Gaurab! Bang on! You are right...
DeleteIt does happen...I love my options...I feel its a game , one that I enjoy
ReplyDeleteO for Ostracized-Random Thoughts Naba
Aha Naba, your words makes too much sense to me. Even I do enjoy this activity but somewhere it harms us- in other places of life. Like I can't shop in time crunch. I can't order my food... there is even much more that happens to people with infinite choices!
DeleteMy gosh, yes! I'm the worst shopper because I think I have to see everything in the mall before purchasing anything, lest there's a better looking shirt or better price somewhere else.
ReplyDeleteVisiting from A to Z~
Wendy at Jollett Etc.
Lol Wendy my story is the same!!! :D
DeletehA... YES YES yes... happens a lot wimme!
ReplyDelete~S(t)ri
Participant|AtoZ Challenge 2014
Smile, it makes (y)our day!
Sri we are caught in a web of options!!!!
DeleteIt reminds me of a story that I read somewhere - a retelling of an old folktale which basically suggests that if all you have are choices and no wisdom you may actually be worse off than before. Having choices/options can be a good thing if we also know how to choose wisely :)
ReplyDeleteBut on a more practical level, do we really need 100s of varieties of hair oil? :)
Beauty Interprets, Expresses, Manifests the Eternal
I think limited options are way better than having too many to be quite frank :)
ReplyDeleteI believe that options are good, you get to pick the one that best suits your interest. Too many options are confusing.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to making choices, I am a rigid person, perhaps that is the reason why I do not feel spoiled after seeing options.
Thinking about options, we are often stuck at the options of words we can take up for A to Z Challenge!
ReplyDeleteYes yes, happens all the time! More the options, more the confusion. :/
ReplyDeleteWhen I started reading your post the first thing I thought about was restaurants that have too many choices on their menus and then you addressed that in your last paragraph! I find that when there are too many options, it really is exhausting.
ReplyDeletehttp://batteredhope.blogspot.ca/2014/04/dogs-d-is-for-dyeing-hair.html#.U1HbpyiPNW8
Happens yes but then I love shopping ... you won't believe if I tell you I look through every shelf every item, and sometimes read recipes on every ready to eat. I love it :P
ReplyDelete