Do Too Many Options Make People Unhappy?
All the knowledge and information that we could ever hope for is just a click away
In the age of information overload, more choices might not be better.
The world is at your fingertips. You can find anything you want with a few taps on your phone or clicks on a computer screen. But in the process, we may have gone too far in making people happy: according to recent research from Harvard University and MIT, when faced with too many options it’s possible that people become less satisfied overall.
Can’t Get No Satisfaction
Too many options can lead to less satisfaction. It’s possible that too many choices overload our brain and cause us to be less satisfied because our brains can’t decide between all of the different thoughts and opinions that come into play when we’re faced with multiple options.
We’re constantly thinking about everything we’ve seen and heard and weighing it against what we know and like, but too many choices burden us cognitively and we end up with less satisfaction than if we had fewer options.
We’ve Gone Too Far
We’ve gone too far in making people happy. Not only does the amount of choice we have impact our satisfaction levels, but it also affects how we interact with other people and the planet.
The more choices that are available to us, the less likely we are to be satisfied because of how much work it is to compare everything around us. It’s time that we start considering the effects of our decisions on other people and the planet, not just what will make us happiest in the moment.
Our well-being should be more important than how much money we have or what kind of car we drive. Because having so many choices can lead to us being less happy overall, it is time that we started considering the long-term effects of our decisions on our well-being and not just short-term gratification.
What Now?
So what do we do? We need to stop putting so much emphasis on material things and start thinking about the long-term effects of our choices. Instead of just focusing on what will bring us personal happiness, we need to start thinking about how our actions affect the people around us and the planet that we live on.
It’s time for a change! Do you think that too many options make people unhappy? Share your thoughts in a comment.
