Paradox of Choice (1 Viewer)

Dunno, but I assume some of you have already seen this. Although not specifically discussing binoculars, I find this link to be worth considering and not getting deeply buried in a thread about a specific binocular model.

Anyhow, while this link is slightly off-topic, the issue is being touched now and then in a lot of the threads.

A word of warning - after watching this, some of us may decide to follow Martin Fagg's example and leave the treadmill of purchasing new and better optics.

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/barry_schwartz_on_the_paradox_of_choice.html

Enjoy!

Yours

//L

Link won't work.

Bob

ceasar said:

Link won't work.

Bob

Click to expand...

Thanks Bob, now fixed. :t:

//L

looksharp65 said:

Dunno, but I assume some of you have already seen this. Although not specifically discussing binoculars, I find this link to be worth considering and not getting deeply buried in a thread about a specific binocular model.

Anyhow, while this link is slightly off-topic, the issue is being touched now and then in a lot of the threads.

A word of warning - after watching this, some of us may decide to follow Martin Fagg's example and leave the treadmill of purchasing new and better optics.

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/barry_schwartz_on_the_paradox_of_choice.html

Enjoy!

Yours

//L

Click to expand...

Fantastic presentation that many could benefit from. :t:

Thanks for starting the thread.

Ed

Interesting, but not new. Toffler coined the phrase "overchoice" in the 70's and we all instantly knew what he meant. The alternatives, thankfully, rest on the ash heap of history. True freedom is based on choice and lots of it.

looksharp65 said:

Dunno, but I assume some of you have already seen this. Although not specifically discussing binoculars, I find this link to be worth considering and not getting deeply buried in a thread about a specific binocular model.
Anyhow, while this link is slightly off-topic, the issue is being touched now and then in a lot of the threads.
A word of warning - after watching this, some of us may decide to follow Martin Fagg's example and leave the treadmill of purchasing new and better optics.
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/barry_schwartz_on_the_paradox_of_choice.html
Enjoy!
Yours
//L

Click to expand...

Pileatus said:

True freedom is based on choice and lots of it.

Click to expand...

Agreed. I'd also be very concerned about the rather glib notion of "second-order decisions". A culture or value system that eliminates the bothersome task of making choices, by elaborating a set of rules that one must have the "discipline" to live by, rapidly becomes a dictatorship or a cult. Making informed and rational choices is the responsibility of a modern citizen, and there are many of us who live in societies that not so long ago denied citizens the right and responsibility to make informed personal choices in how and where to live, what to consume, read or watch etc., by means of political and/or religious dogma. Religious systems that make all the choices for members by providing instructions to be followed unquestioningly breed fundamentalisms of the worst kind. Many people worldwide still live by value systems that dictate what time of day they must eat, what to wear, etc., or that identify "others" as the profane, the corrupt, the enemy. Some may be happy with this elimination of choice, but a rather simple answer to the "paradox of choice" argument is - if you don't want to have so much choice, choose not to. No-one can force me to buy a Lexus, and believe me, even if I had the cash, I wouldn't. Turn off the adverts, or "choose not to choose". (Now there's a paradox for you...)

Pileatus said:

Interesting, but not new. Toffler coined the phrase "overchoice" in the 70's and we all instantly knew what he meant. The alternatives, thankfully, rest on the ash heap of history. True freedom is based on choice and lots of it.

Click to expand...

Too simplistic to agree/disagree
I found myself agreeing with a lot of the points made by Ted, e.g. the 50 retirement plans vs 5, the problem of too much choice.
I guess one has to identify the paramaters of the fish bowl, would this be decision criteria?
So my "ideal" or should I say perfect binocular
Exit pupil 4mm (larger ones wasted on an oldie like me)
Brand - Alpha L, N, S or Z (street cred re Maslow's hierachy of needs - self esteem)
mag 8x.
Handling and fit/feel.
My choice was the Nikon HG 8x32 but now the EDG's have been launched am I candidate for depression?
Solution: please send large cash donations to: R G W

I wouldn't want anyone to interpret my action to drop this link here as some kind of political statement.

The speaker doesn't hail North Korea or Cuba, he only shows that commercial freedom of choice won't provide happiness, but rather the contrary.

I believe that there may exist a belief that commercial freedom of choice and political freedom of choice are inseparable, but I don't necessarily agree.
When an oppressed nation raises against, and overthrows a dictator, they anticipate and rejoice about the possibility to shape their own future.
Having 129 different toothpastes in their grocery stores might not be their greatest expectation for the future.

That said, I'm glad to live in the circumstances I do live in. However, happiness is a completely different subject.

//L

Ah, Happiness. That's a very tough nut to crack.

"Happiness".
My father was a school caretaker. He was an educated gentleman, well-liked by all who knew him, and served in the Royal Navy as a Petty Officer during WW2. Demobbed 1946, he found jobs were scarce and, on the basis anything was better than nothing, secured an assistant caretaker's job at a Grammar School. Very soon he obtained promotion as a head caretaker at a Primary School, where he stayed for the rest of his working life. He was often asked, "Why are you a caretaker, James, when you could have done so many 'better' jobs?" to which he'd reply, "I'm happy doing what I do, it's a worthwhile job, I can do it well, so other people are happy". Was this the definition of 'happiness'?
I don't think it fits with "The secret of happiness is low expectation".
Dennis didn't have low expectations of his Swarovision, and evidently exercised freedom of choice to his satisfaction, even delight. But I concur with Robert Wallace of Halifax in that a Nikon HG was his ideal choice (mine too) until the EDG was launched. Solution?
The HG seems so good that there's unlikely to be anything significantly better, so just be happy with what you have. Does this mean I have low expectations of the EDG, ergo it could be the secret to happiness?
Confused of Chester.
If you know how many binoculars you have, you don't have enough...

IN MOTION


The sated day is never first.
The best day is a day of thirst.

Yes, there is goal and meaning in our path -
but it's the way that is the labour's worth.

The best goal is a night-long rest,
fire lit, and bread broken in haste.

In places where one sleeps but once,
sleep is secure, dreams full of songs.

Strike camp, strike camp! The new day shows its light.
Our great adventure has no end in sight.


Translated into English by David McDuff in "Karin Boye: Complete poems".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karin_Boye

Pileatus said:

Interesting, but not new. Toffler coined the phrase "overchoice" in the 70's and we all instantly knew what he meant. The alternatives, thankfully, rest on the ash heap of history. True freedom is based on choice and lots of it.

Click to expand...

Somehow Toffler's prediction of a "paperless society" reminded me of what Orwell was writing about when information was consigned to the "memory hole."

Bob