Visualizing the Cost of Choosing
The effort of comparing options can cost more than choosing the cheaper one saves.
You can spend so much time deciding that the cheaper option ends up costing you more.
Suppose the cost of A is 10 and the cost of B is 8.
You spend so long figuring out which to choose that it costs you 3 in time and mental effort. Choosing B saves you 2, but deliberating costs you 3.
So the option that costs 8 ends up costing you 11. Picking A without deliberating would have cost you 10. You’d have picked the more expensive option, but spent less overall.
I think this illustrates what people mean when they say, “Man, I wish I didn’t even have a choice.” It isn’t really the choice they want to avoid. It’s spending so much time and mental effort comparing the options that they end up fatigued or overwhelmed, when they’d have been better off making a gut choice and just taking it.
Sometimes it’s better not to decide at all, and not worry about optimizing the little things. How much does the cheaper option actually save you, and how much effort are you spending to find it?