The only possible choice

^{Image by Arek Socha from Pixabay}

We like to always have several options open. We are beings who don't like to “feel” cornered, or to have only one option. But is that really the case?

Do we really like to choose so much, or are we looking to choose what is best for us? What if a phenomenon occurs where we think we should have more than one option, but if we were given the best option for us, would we accept it? Or would we accept it willingly?

I still remember the days when we went to a jeans store and had a few models to choose from, but no more than 3 or 4 different ones. Nowadays, that same brand of jeans has more than 15 different options among the men's models...

And with so many options, if we leave the store feeling that there was a better option for us, but it wasn't available, we are left with a feeling of being “incomplete.” It's true that in the past, even though there were fewer options, it wasn't so easy to be left with these doubts.

We were more accepting of the “not perfect,” or of what “isn't bad, even though it wasn't my first choice.”

Society literally “pushes” us into a position where everything has to be customizable. There can't be anything that suits a group of people with similar tastes. If it's not something that's “our style,” we think it won't satisfy us entirely.

In my adolescence, the group dynamic was much stronger. We liked to dress alike and have the same tastes as our closest friends. Today, the relentless search for something that sets us apart is the Holy Grail. And what can this situation lead to? To us always having a need that is yet to be fulfilled. But what cost does this bring, both to us as individuals and to society? For us, there is more and more time invested, and literally lost, in the process of choosing. We think we waste less time when we are choosing something that is almost exclusively for us, but we waste time going through all the possible choices. Obviously, with so much choice, there is a waste of resources (material, and obviously storage, distribution, etc.), not to mention the economic factors.

A piece of clothing that used to last longer is now almost bought as if it were disposable fashion. Use it and put it aside... Or exchange it.

When there is such a wide variety of choices, what can happen is that it can also generate a feeling of anxiety in individuals, and a search for perfection (which does not exist), and sometimes even lead to a situation of paralysis. Of not being able to decide, for fear of making a decision.

There is less and less of a culture of “imperfection” associated with our choices. Does a world tailored to our needs bring us more choice, or, on the contrary, does it make us more “slaves” to the need to always choose everything, regardless of its degree of importance?

What do you think about this?

^{Free image from Pixabay.com
Original text written by me in Portuguese and translated with DeepL.com (free version)}