Alphachimp Studio > Pop!Tech > Less-is-More-is-Less > Barry Schwartz

From The Experience Economist's Blog:

Barry Schwartz is the Dorwin Cartwright Professor of Social Theory and Social Action Psychology, Swarthmore College, and author of The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less. It's important for people to flourish, but no discussion on what to do to flourish. We can't have it all and the quest to have it all is one of the tortures of modern life. Barry did a quick review of his his grocery store and found:
* 285 brands of cookies
* 230 soups
* 75 iced teas
* 175 salad dressings
* 40 toothpastes
* 275 cereals

At the average electronics store, there are 30 vcr's & 50 dvd's and if you design your own stereo system, 6.5 million different stereo combinations. Showed funny cartoon that said "Do you have a phone that doesn't do too much?" When and where you are working is a choice for us, but it also means that there's no excuse for not working. Being unattractive is now a matter of choice. Americans have more freedom of choice then ever before

• We have more money them ever before.
• Americans are sadder then ever before
• Clinical depression is twice as frequent as a generation ago.
• Depression is also being observed in younger people then ever before.

Listen to podcast of the presentation.