Summary Of The Paradox Of Choice

Finding my Pair of “Jeans” In the The Paradox of Choice, Barry Schwartz discusses the power and magnitude of choices. Despite our cultural believing in pursuing personal autonomy and having freedom to make a lot of choices, he argues that the more choices there are, the more likelihood that negative effects will appear like anxiety, regret, etc. Schwartz states that, “As the number of choices increases, as it has in our consumer culture, the autonomy, control, and liberation this variety brings are powerful and positive. But as the number of choices keeps growing, negative aspects of having a multitude of options begin to appear” (3). It is safe to say that everyone has personally experienced a situation that Schwartz has presented. Everyone
People offered me kind suggestions to which major to pick and the pitfalls of other majors, like the outcome of my life will be determined by the college major I choose. A few lucky college students will know what they want to do for the rest of their lives at age 18, but the majority of the college population like me will spend a significant amount of time trying to figure out which major they want to choose; they will try on multiple majors to which area compliments his or her skills the best. Just like how Barry Schwartz wasted time trying on multiple jeans to see which one complimented his looks the best. I’ve tried on just two different pairs of “Jeans” in my 2 year college career so far; accounting and psychology. With all two pairs were an extremely uncomfortable fit and did not compliment my skills at all. I wasted at least a year of schooling taking degree classes that I will more than likely not use in the future, barring a major change of heart. Here is the story of my two year struggle of picking a