I found myself spending literally a half an hour, 30 minutes, in the cereal aisle of the supermarket, trying to choose between boxes of Cheerios. That’s when I realized I had a problem.
– Jonah Lehrer, on the pathologies of decision making
When I saw this quote in an NPR story, I nearly fell off my chair. THIS IS ME! Maybe not with cereal, but with similarly frivolous decisions.
This very nature, no matter how poisonous it may be, has saved me from going into massive debt. Any purchase must be painstakingly researched, often to the point that an entire afternoon has disappeared and I’ve chased my tail over and over around the decision. This very MacBook Air laptop I’m typing on was a product of my dysfunctional study.
There are two pairs of hiking boots in front of me. It’s 8:45 p.m. and the store is closing in 15 minutes. I’m setting out at sunrise with some buddies to Starved Rock State Park, and temperatures are expected to be around ZERO degrees. There’s a good bit of snow on the ground, and it’s time I became an adult with proper footwear.
Only 40 bucks stand between the two boots. A salesman was no help, offering up several pairs of camouflaged, knee-high boots for my quick rejection. Not only a crime against fashion, but equally a crime against safety – mobile ankles are key when hiking.
Time is running out. Both seem serviceable, but only one has the magic word: Gortex. A closing announcement goes out over the store’s P.A. system. I call a life-line, someone more knowledgable. I even try a quick dip into Google with little result.
D-Day.
I chose the boots less traveled – err, less expensive. I drive home, open the box, and immediately regret my cheap ass.
THIS HAPPENS ALL THE TIME.
But – did the boots get the job done? If so, mission accomplished. Move on…
The boots certainly did work well. I’d just prefer to avoid the intermediate feeling of doom after a purchase, though.
cognitive dissonance
I now hesitate to spend more than $15 on something that isn’t available on 2 different online retailers with at least a 4/5 star rating and at least 10 reviews.
Then I realize the people who are reviewing might not be as picky as me. Then I worry that there might be something out there that reviews better! Then I worry if it will go on sale in a month! Then I give up!
It’s not that bad with most stuff… but man, there were a handful of laaaate laaaate nights researching laptops and chipsets and benchmarks before finally settling on my laptop. And that was after a year of kicking around the idea of a new laptop to begin with.
Yes, the cost saving side of this is a notable perk, however.
Sorry, comment is almost longer than the post :O
The alternative flaw to indecision is, as i am too well aware, indifference. 40$ difference between boots that have no apparent difference? Buy me some cheap boots, tyvm. If in two weeks they give me blisters just prior to disintegrating entirely, I will laugh and buy me some more expensive boots. The rest of the time, I’ll just forget about the decision.
Saving myself the hassle of researching everything everything I buy is worth the sometimes added costs.
45 minutes spent clipping coupons / finding the absolute “perfect” widget is 45 minutes i could be spending leaving comments on ofadam.com!