I remember learning in Educational Psychology that the more options one has, the more stressful a decision is.
It’s no wonder that “what do you want to do with your life?” “what color should we paint the livingroom?” and “out of all the people on the entire internet on dating websites, who can you see yourself building a life with?” can be somewhat stressful questions.
Anyway I remember learning that. I’ve seen it utilized within marketing, where companies will intentionally limit your options, to give you a sense of peace and control- perhaps counterintuitively. Apple wins the cake on this metric. You may not know who gets your data or how or what they do with it, but you know that you want the latest one, and all you have to do is subscribe to the data plan, and just click the things and it does everything. Though people rail against things constantly needing to be replaced with the latest one, because it’s expensive, it also is a routine, predictable: at some point, your apps will cease to be able to update, and you will have one, or maybe only a few choices, primarily of color and size, to get the latest handheld computer.
Anyway. I’m saying.. this is a thing, and companies use it, and it’s just a thing about how we think, and what we like, as people. It’s nice to know what to expect, and it’s nice to not have many things to choose between, because then there are fewer subconscious pro and cons lists to make, value judgments, etc etc etc!
It’s possible to utilize this in one’s personal life. I haven’t figured out how to do it, particularly, because I don’t want to lose any of my options. (lol)
I’ve been forced into simplicity in some areas: clothing (I can only wear latex-free clothes), foods (only foods I’m not allergic to), objects (all must be latex free). My lifestyle involves relatively few options, because I mainly spend time at home or in nature, due to latex allergy/ MCAS.
I guess what made me start thinking about this, was buying music. I don’t subscribe to streaming services, because it’s cheaper for me, long-term. I’d have to spend $120 a year or more on music, every single year, for it to be worth it to me, and I don’t spend that much. I tend to get everything Taylor Swift makes, and occasionally try something new, but most of the time I listen to the same songs over and over again (what’s the word for that? Is it “basic”? I feel like it might be?) Anyway. It’s comforting to me.
I just got a new mp3 player, and it’s so fun. Sometimes the directions aren’t in English, which adds to the excitement of figuring out how to use it. The audio quality is better than any audio quality I’ve heard in a long time. Plus I have my latex-free headphones to use with it! ❤️❤️
Anyway. There’s something about it- about just seeing visually music I’ve chosen, rather than looking at the wide sea of every single musical option that exists on planet earth.
We have a landline phone. I’ve had it for 5-6 years or so. I like having it for safety- so that if the power goes out, we’ll still have a reliable phone (and I’ve called 911 before on a cellphone that didn’t get reception. My son was choking. It wasn’t a good moment in my life. He’s ok, thankfully. The Heimlich worked.)
I love our phone for a lot of reasons, and one of them is that it doesn’t have an answering machine. I have a cellphone too, and a VOIP number for giving people I don’t want to receive calls from, only voicemails emailed to me (:D sorry I know I’m a terrible person). Anyway. It’s nice to not have to check a million places for messages.
I miss the day where I could easily physically handle cds, cassettes, and records, because I like those especially, because of the album art, the insides of the cases, the papers with the lyrics, etc. But on the other hand, my audio quality for listening to them usually wasn’t that great. My current setup is better.
This has been a rambling post.
Anyway if you’re feeling stressed, aside from suggesting fine dining (“if you’re stressed, it’s fine dining we suggest”), I suggest removing options.
How do you do that? I have no fucking clue.
Hope you’re having a good day.
