The paradox of choice!

The title of this post is the title of one of the most insighful books i have read and still reading. I love it.

I share some of the insights here.

Some people are maximisers and some are satisficers. I am talking from the population of people who have some standards for their lives. Now, satisficers are happy with "good enough" choices and maximisers seek to maximise everything. This is where the problem is. Every time they make a decision, they think of all the better alternatives they have had to give up.

For example, a maximiser buys a motorbike after much search. Now that he has the motorbike, there is a possibility of "postpurchase regret" Maximers cannot escape this because they will keep thinking about all the alternatives that he has given up and which could have been better.

It's not that satisficers do not have standards. They have standards but once they make a decision, they are happy with their decision which enables them to enjoy their decisions. They do not have to keep thinking about options they have left out.

There is nothing called a perfect world. A perfect world is a hypothetical reality where we do not have to make trade offs and get everything we want. This is an imaginary situation.

We all want to have choices. But what do these choices do to us? Does it help out lives? Does it help the way we make decisions?

unfortunately, the more choices we have, the more frustrated we are. We cannot decide what is good for us. I mean, think of buying a car. Which car should you purchase? Which category? Which design? Which company? Lets sa you boil down to a company. Maruti.

Now Maruti zen, versa, 800, Baleno, SX4, Lx, Px or Gx???? Ofcourse, I have not covered the entire range here. The opportunity costs of making one decision over all the others!!! Think about the opportunity costs of marriage!!!!

Counterfactual thinking has been the reason for the growth of the human society. If only we did not think about something that does not exist and could be a possibility, how would we eveolve?? However, it is also the reason for regrets, both anticipative regrets and buyer's remorse.

More and more choices do not quite serve us all the time. We would ideally want to be left alone and not look at opportunity costs at all. e can help ourselves by being satisficers. The problem in keeping options open is that we are never quite done with the decision.

People do things which they do not have reasons for. "Why" does not always precede reality. Choice is supposed to benefit us, isn't it? But does it?

The opportunity costs of one choice over another present the paradox of choice!!

cheers

most painful phrases in english!!!

simply put, these phrases should never be used. They always talk about something that did not happen because of a misjudgement, a mistake or whatever.

NEVER USE THEM. They are

might have
should have
could have
would have

I hate them all

Happy Birthday Meetu!

It’s good to have a sister. I can say it because I have one. And I do not want any more.

Well, it’s like this. We grew up together knowing each other and living with each other’s good and bad times. We used to fight a lot over small things when we were little children, which I am sure we are not anymore.

We are 2 different personalities; I have just been more self oriented. I have loved growing up with her, although no “boy” benefits have been provided to me by our parents. She has had equal opportunities or at least I think so. So, our parents are “equal opportunity parents”.

I know she loves me and has always cared more for me than the other way round. I have been a rebel for at leas one decade now and she has had to bear the brunt of this along with my parents. I went through a very bad stage last year, where things got awful for the entire family and she went through a rough period during that time.

She is not materialistic at all which is great. Her values are intact and not fragile. She would not take risks too frequently. She is one of the most simple and unadulterated people you will com along, trust me.

We have come a long way being jugnu-meetu! There is a long way to go still. I do not know and cannot say what life will be like, although we will do our best.

It has been great to have her as my sister, any alternative choice would not make sense to me, and I would not opt for it.

I wish you achieve professional success and get more out of every single day life has to offer!! Happy birthday meetu!

unfulfilled temptations!!!

you know what. one thing is clear. We al have fantasies, these are distinct desires of ours which we see during the dreams that we consciously see during the day and also during night, although I do not remember any.

However, the thing about some of these fantasies is that they will not be fulfilled. Marketers know this dilemma, they are insightful people and they target some advertisement messages towards these desires of ours. They are not latent, they are extremely obvious and clear, at least to my mind.

The temptations that we cannot afford to ignore and the temptations that will never be fulfilled because it is morally/conscientiously/socially/whatever wrong to fulfill them.

You will have to frame it properly and call it something that nobody can challenge. If the question is moral, the answer has got to be morally right as well, something like religious compulsions!!!!

If you do not understand all this, I do not blame you at all. If there is an answer , it is within you than outside you

The man in the mirror!!!

Can you stand in front of the mirror and look in the eyes of the person there and say- " I am proud of the person you have become?"

If you can, then there is no one else in this world you need to answer and be answerable to. The mirror is the only judge of your success, your character, rights and wrongs.

If you want to determine if an action is wrong or right, think of the man in the mirror. If you would be able to look in those eyes with pride and confidence, then your actions are right. If your actions are wrong, the man in the mirror will tell you.

ofcourse, same applies if you see a woman in the mirror!!

The person in the mirror, the only judge who matters ;)

Anand, the Shobna boy

I dedicate this post to Anand, the 18 year old lad who serves food day and night in the neighbourhod restaurant, Shobna.

He arrives at 7 in the morning and spends the rest of the day in this tiny restaurant serving every customer with a smile. Would not he choose a better life if one was available to him? He certainly would. Somehow, his smile makes me question it?

There was anoter boy in the Singapore Canteen, he used to arrive at 7 again in the morning and would wash dishes, clean the place, all with a smile.

I feel bad for them, I wish they had better opportunities available and they could lead a better life. Wishing does not serve any purpose, does it???

I recently read the book, "Bottom of the pyramid" by the most influential thinker of 2007, C K Prahalad. He talks about the market available at the bottom of the pyradmid which translates to 4 billion people.

I want to do something for the anands of this world and only pray that i get an opportunity and I promise, when the opportunity presents itself, I will catch it.

What is your contribution?

The quality of your life will be determined by the quality of your contribution. So what does contribution mean?

Contribution means what have you done that has created value. You do not contribute to yourself. Contribution is external.

You contribute to someone's else's life
You contribute to your company
You contribute to society
You do not contribute to yourself

The contribution question asks, "what have you done beyond yourself"?

The quality of your life will be the quality of your contribution.