Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group discussion

I came across the book, _The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less_ by Barry Schwartz, at an article at CBS News online. Below is a link to the article:====>
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/0...

The title of the article is: "So Many Choices, So Little Time-The Downside Of Having Limitless Options" (written by Sean Alfano).

Excerpts from the article:
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"People are really attracted to bountiful variety, but then when they're in that store that has a lot they suffer as they try to make decisions and they don't buy more," says psychology professor Barry Schwartz...

In his book _The Paradox Of Choice_, Schwartz argues that there really, truly is such a thing as too much choice.

The article quotes Schwartz again:
"The more you can go through life satisfied with good enough, the less burdened you'll be by choice," he says. "My own view is that there is no area in life, there is no decision where it makes sense to look for the best. I think good enough is always good enough."
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Booklist at Amazon.com says:
"We are, the author suggests, overwhelmed by choice, and that's not such a good thing."

Below is a cover link to the book: ====>
Goodreads describes the book as follows:
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"a social critique of our obsession with choice, and how it contributes to anxiety, dissatisfaction and regret." ... "Schwartz makes the counterintuitive case that eliminating choices can greatly reduce the stress, anxiety, and busyness of our lives. He offers eleven practical steps on how to limit choices to a manageable number, have the discipline to focus on the important ones and ignore the rest, and ultimately derive greater satisfaction from the choices you have to make."
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Sounds like good advice.

I have a newspaper comics clipping I keep on my fridge: Hagar the Horrible says to his friend Eddie, 'The Secret to Happiness is to be happy with what you've got.'
I think it fits in this discussion, because if you're happy with what you already have, you don't need to keep searching. I have what I need, I'm not very materialistic; but I notice my son's generation is obsessed with The Best, The Most Expensive. These kids have many more choices than I did while growing up. It's as if we are creating an insatiable void for them; it can never be filled because there is always More.
I've never had anxiety, dissatisfaction or regret about comsumerism, but I'm not the average person in this respect. I can easily see it as a problem for the younger generation and I don't envy them.
I've tried to show Eric that there's more to life than Things, but in all honesty, it's their culture, they can't escape their peers. And they are all like that. I am amazed how much money they spend on useless items. Or worse, buying a new item they already have because The Better Model came out.
I notice people confuse their WANTS with their NEEDS; two vastly different concepts, yet they are under the impression they are the same thing. THAT'S the biggest problem as I see it with consumerism and it's affect on people in our Rampant Capitalist Society.

Future Shock goes into this. Written in 1970, it tells the amazing story of the boom in our choices that happened after WWII, especially in the 60's. Examples such as soap - there used to be a few brands that were available for decades (Lux, Ivory, etc.) & suddenly there were hundreds that were around for a couple of years. He explores some of the reasons for it.

Alvin Toffler updated this book with a couple of other ones, but I haven't read them. I think the original blew my mind enough. I found the first 1/4 of the book the most interesting. After that he gets into specific areas that sometimes didn't play out with the trends & were dated. The first part sets up his argument for the rest. If you run across a copy, grab it. It's worth a couple of hours.

Interesting posts about needs and wants!
Some food for thought:
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"My riches consist not in the extent of my Possessions, but in the fewness of my wants."
-J. Brotherton

ON THE OTHER HAND:

"The stoical scheme of supplying our wants by lopping off our desires, is like cutting off our feet, when we want shoes." -Jonathan Swift

“We are driven by five genetic needs: survival, love and belonging, power, freedom, and FUN (caps mine).” -William Glasser

“Novelty has charms that our minds can hardly withstand.” -William Makepeace Thackeray
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Sometimes I think that "novelty" is one of our needs. (I think I saw a quote to that effect, but I can't find it.)

Do you think that novelty is a psychological need in human beings?
For me, it seems to be.

Jim, glad you mentioned _Future Shock_. Here is a cover-link: ==>

I once read a piece from _Future Shock_. It was the part where the child goes out to the store. She can't find the store. She comes back and, instead of saying he/she got lost, she says, matter-of-factly: "They must have torn down the building" (or words to that effect).

As a kid back in the 1940s, I would never have imagined that. When I see buildings being imploded one after another, I'm in awe. But these days, it seems to be a regular thing.

I remember that comment in "Future Shock", Joy. It is scary. I've seen 2 of my home areas get developed & it isn't pretty. We had a small farm near Lake Ronkonkama, Long Island, NY, in the early 60's. When I went by there in the 70's, everything was changed. The pond I skated on was a big, concrete sump, the fields were strip malls & housing developments. Same thing happened in Maryland - the reason we moved to Kentucky.

It seems strange to have too many choices of books to read until you take a look at how many books are available. A site said that in 1905, there were under 10,000 books published in the US. It wasn't until 1949 that we broke the 10,000 mark. The 1990's averaged 55,000 books or so each year.

But in 2005, there were 172,000 NEW books published in the US while in the top 5 countries, there were over 1/2 million! That's on top of all the books that were already out there. Whew!

No wonder my 'To-Read' shelf is always full.

Jim, at least we have memories of those good old days. The young folks missed it all. But they have their own good memories, I guess.

As for all the ever-growing choice in books, it's staggering, overwhelming and mind-blowing, not to mention, daunting! (lol)

I'm thankful for my to-read list. It's so handy for reference. I have no qualms about filling it up. It's like a giant Christmas stocking waiting to be enjoyed a bit at a time.