Thirty flavors of ice cream and you still order the same one. More options rarely mean more freedom.

CREATIVITY

WHAT THIS MEANS

More choice mostly adds work, not freedom. Standing in front of thirty options, you still want the thing you already know you like, and the other twenty nine have done nothing except make the decision take longer and leave a faint suspicion that you chose wrong. Real freedom is knowing what you want. Options only help once that part is settled.

When something has too many versions, cut the list to three before you start comparing. Pick from those and stop looking. The minutes you save are the actual prize, and the choice is almost never as consequential as the choosing felt.

A QUESTION TO SIT WITH

What do you always order, despite the long menu?

MORE IN PARADOX, METAPHOR & FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Free, with nothing to buy inside it.