Choosing is an area of life that I plan to optimize by removing as much day-to-day choosing as possible (wakeup routine, outfit choice, meal choice, relaxation routine, etc)
In his two elegantly titled posts Zvi explains why: 1) Choices are Bad and 2) Choices Are Really Bad
A movie you would have enjoyed if it was just on makes you feel like a schmuck if you take twenty minutes choosing it from thousands at the video store.
Thus, giving me a choice between a Snickers bar that I value at $1 and M&Ms I value at 60 cents doesn’t only force me into choosing mode, lower my perceived value and help create decision fatigue (and potentially cost willpower). It also risks that if I’m not paying attention or thinking clearly, I will choose the M&Ms, and that would be a tragedy.
I try to remove choosing in other people’s lives too. In situations where I know they do not value ability to choose that much: like what cafe should be go to, what street to turn to next, snickers or m&ms, etc. Of course, I don’t force the choice on them - if they want to choose, it’s their right.
Also recommended read on somewhat similar topic:
Change is bad too
The Zvi on why we should choose what we change very carefully. Every change has a cost. Sounds obvious but there were quite a few ‘aha’ moments while reading this. As usual with Zvi, this is delightfully all-encompassing.
Older people have had more time to optimize and have less time to optimize again, so it makes sense that they hate change even more than others. They should.