According
to Dr. Sheena Iyengar’s TED video on the art of choosing, she assumes that
Americans believe the following when it comes to making choices:
1)
Make
your own choices,
2)
More
options leads to better choices, and
3)
Never
say no to choice
On Dr. Iyengar first assumption, it seems
to be used as one person being true to himself or herself, which I agree. Why
wouldn’t we make our choice or decision if the outcome directly affects us? In
my point of view, if I’m expecting a certain outcome then I must be the one to
make the choice. I don’t feel comfortable giving someone the responsibility of
making the choice for me because the outcome might turn out to be different
than expected. What if the outcome turns out to be the complete opposite of my
expectations? Would I be able to fix it? There are too many uncertainties and
possibilities of outcomes of our decisions when someone else makes them. To me
personally, it’s a sense of having control of the future or of the expected
outcome. I can’t control the little bumps I might encounter in the way if
someone else has taken charge. That person’s point of view might not be the
same as mine. For example, a vegetarian person would go to the supermarket and
make their own decision of what to buy according to his or her own eating
habits. But a vegetarian person cannot expect someone else to know what his or
her eating habits are even when it has been explained to them. Why? Well,
because we all have our own ways of doing things, of why we do things, and we
all like them to be done a certain way. Maybe the vegetarian person only buys
certain brand name products because he or she knows they are made specifically
for vegetarians.
Dr. Iyengar second assumption is not one
that I completely agree with. In my point of view, the more choices we have to
choose from the more the complicated the decision of choosing becomes. Why?
People get overwhelmed on the types or varieties that one product has. Some
products have better quality; others are made for the price conscious consumer,
while others have more choices or options within them. For example, when I go
to Wal-Mart, I honestly choose the brands that my parents have bought for me in
the past. I once stood in one aisle for over 30mins trying to decide which
brand and what type of make-up would look best on me. For me there were too
many choices, too many similar colors that I just couldn’t decide what was best
for me. Therefore, I don’t think that always having more options results on a
better choice, at least not for certain things such as make-up.
The third assumption made by Dr. Iyengar
is one that I personally agree with. As she states in the TED video, it goes
against everything that we have been thought growing up. It goes against
everything we believe in, and even against our fundamental principles. How can
we be true to ourselves and become our own person or individual if we are not
given the choice to choose freely? From the time that we are born we are given
choices, such as either we behave or we continue on “time-out”. The simple
notion of being given choices allows us to shape who we are and who we want to
be. For example, in the past parents wanted their child to become either a
lawyer or doctor. Now in the modern world, parents have allowed their children
to choose what they want to study and what they want to do when they grow up.
In your opinion, would we be as successful as we are today if we had told our
parents to choose our future for us because we said no to having choices? Would
it have been the correct future or choice for us?
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