The paradox of choice by Barry Schwartz highlights the negative aspects of people having too many choices in their life. His conclusion is that “choices make people miserable”. He supports this with several premises; choices cause 1. Regret and anticipated regret, 2. Opportunity costs, 3. Escalation of expectations, 4. Self- blame. Schwartz says that when people have too many choices about what to do in aspects of their life, they are either paralzed but fear and don’t make a choice, make a choice and regret it, compare their choice to another choice, or have too many high expectations for the choice that they chose which makes them sad.
In the CNBC article, From the ‘perfect’ salary to keeping up with the Joneses, here’s how money really affects your happiness, by Cory Stieg, the author’s conclusion is that money can “buy happiness”. One of the premises for this is that “spending money on experiences makes you happier than items”. I personally agree with this statement because experiences such as traveling or eating good food with friends and family is a luxury that can be experienced with money. Having enough money to go on vacation and not worry about your rent is a luxury that not many can afford.
