Pax Nortona – A Blog by Joel Sax
From the Land of the Lost Blunderbuss
Choice and Depression
Posted on May 4, 2004 in Consuming Depression Liberty Reading
When we walk through those gigantic shopping malls, we imagine ourselves in the land of plenty, enjoying freedom to express ourselves through the objects that we own. The existence of multiple alternatives to devices answering to our fabricated needs drives us to pessimism and despair. We dwell on what we don’t have or we become monsters who press to have all the choices available to them so that a “mistake” can be easily rectified by a different purchase.
The conclusions of a study by Swarthmore professor Barry Schwartz affirm the Second Noble Truth of Buddhism: that our suffering springs from cravings. Cravings for the Mercedes over the Toyota. Cravings for the cable modem over the direct dial modem. Cravings for brie over cheddar. Cravings for a latte over the house blend. Cravings for a fully outfitted SUV with a television in the back seat over a simple pickup truck.
What Schwartz recommends is a different relationship to our material possessions:
Because of adaptation, enthusiasm about positive experiences does not sustain itself….people consistently mispredict how long good experiences will make them feel good and how long bad experiences will make them feel bad. The waning of pleasure or enjoyment over time always seems to come as an unpleasant surprise.
And it may cause more disappointment in a world of many options than in a world of few. The opportunity costs associated with a decision and the time and effort that go into making it are “fixed costs” that we “pay” up front, and those costs then get “amortized” over the life of the decision. The more we invest in a decision, the more satisfaction we expect to realize from our investment. If the decision provides substantial satisfaction after it is made, the costs of making it recede into insignificance. But if the decision provides pleasure for only a short time, those costs loom large. Spending four months deciding what stereo to buy is not so bad if you really enjoy that stereo for 15 years. But if you end up being excited by it for six months and then [getting used to it], you may feel like a fool for having put in all that effort.
Schwartz goes on to prescribe four strategies for rescuing ourselves from 21st century America: First, put your best efforts into making the most crucial decisions and don’t waste time going from store to store trying to find the best price, the best model. Second, be satisfied with what you have. If it meets your requirements, does what you need it to do, be content. Third, focus on the positive aspects of what you did select instead of the options you chose not to buy. Finally, don’t expect too much from any machine or vacation or other purchase. It’s a transient experience in a life that will end in death.
Do not look to worldly things to rescue you from the world. They cause suffering. The antidote isn’t to burn the planet, but to change how you see things.
I have to confess that it tickles me to see Science once again affirming what the Buddha knew 2500 years ago.
