A fascinating presentation on the positive and negative aspects of choice. Specifically, how your culture or geographic locale can influence how much you are allowed to stray from standard operating protocol, if at all.

The narrative Americans tell, the story upon which the American Dream depends, is the story of limitless choice.

This narrative promises so much: freedom, happiness, success. It lays the world at your feet and says: you can have anything, everything.

It’s a great story.

[...]

But when you take a close look, you start to see the holes. And the history books and the daily news tell us it doesn’t always work out that way.

As has been proven, too much choice can be a negative thing because it effectively overstimulates the brain (by giving one too many variables to consider) and the person might push the choice off to a later date or avoid making it altogether.

If you disagree, then try shopping for someone’s breakfast cereal (say your children, niece/nephew, significant other, etc.), and let the myriad of choices in the cereal aisle inundate your higher brain functions.

Sounds simple, but as your standing there in the cereal aisle pondering: sugar vs. non-sugar, fiber vs. non-fiber, generic vs. name brand, cartoon character cereal vs. grown up cereal, and on and on, you might begin to wonder why staples like corn flakes and Cheerios have remained staples in the American diet.

(Hint: it’s less mentally taxing for many people to stick with what works.)