It’s leap day and that alone seems like an odd decision which leads to the question how do we make choices and do we often have to many options to choose from? There is a great article in the NYT titled The Advantages of Closing a Few Doors.
The article by John Tierney focuses on Dr. Ariely a professor at MIT and behavioral economics expert developed a game that tests rationality in decision making. Dr. Dan Ariely found that people avoid closing doors on options in order to avoid the emotion of loss.
Perhaps this fear of the emotion of loss can explain workaholics that can’t turn down a project or playboys that can’t seem to commit. Maybe it helps explain our overbooked, dvr/tivo society, 1,000 cable channels, you tube, multi-tasking love affair with choices and the need to have all these available options.
Of course this also explains why often in Miami some people attend 2 or 3 events on a given night while RSVPing YES to 5 or 6, it’s all about keeping options open. However, too much time is spent deciding and commuting (especially in Miami traffic). This kind of thinking seems like it’s straight out of Ariely’s new book Predictably/Irrational .
So many options, so little time but I suggest next time you have an important decision remember to step back and look at the bigger picture and then choose to simplify.
