The Paradox of Choice

[Lord Percy]

Little bit of capitalist/socialist balance discussion - which is really better? Interesting RSA Animate.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=1bqMY82xzWo

[smegballs]

Forced myself to watch it all the way to the end before commenting

Maybe I'm one of the "sociopaths" as hetzer calls them as I really don't give a fuck what other people think and feel when it comes to my choices on the products I choose to buy. Even based on my actions, I try not to hurt other people but even that is mainly selfish - it's so I don't have to feel bad from my conscience.

What I took away from the vid is that choice has negative effects, if you allow the opinions of other to allow you to feel negative feels. If you as long as you have strong enough convictions, choice is wonderful. You get to cherry-pick all the good bits, whilst rejecting the bad bits.

In the context of products and consumption, my choices are based on function. To which I'll admit that reviews from other people are useful, so I guess there is some input from the views of others. Not one for aesthetics, or pop-appeal, I concern myself with performance when choosing things. How high is the output of this solar panel, what is the rated capacity of these batteries etc etc.

I sort of see it as the natural advantage the strong-minded have over the weak-minded. It is of no surprise that those lacking in boldness and sense-of-self are the ones that will be held back in life, sadly largely through their self-imposed limitations in their own head.

While I consider myself pretty average, I think it's fair to say I've done some pretty cool stuff in my life. Nothing earth-shattering as of yet, but still pretty cool. People often ask me "how I can do it" and describe me as "going off on one of his crazy adventures", yet to my mind I never do anything that remarkable. There is no reason most people couldn't do the things I have done, apart from them telling themselves that they can't.

What can you do for such people? If someone is of weak mind enough to allow themselves to feel bad because a magazine tells them they are too fat/thin etc etc then that sadly is on them.


tl;dr : everyone needs more "fuck you I won't do what you tell me" in their system

[Lord Percy]

I actually wholly agree that the problem lays in weak-mindedness. If the likes of you or I can worm our way out of the mindset of the lost masses, then why can't everyone do it?

I guess to counter-argue though, I'd say that the current system of 'no real choice' is quite a new one and is symptomatic greater powers at play - advertisers, newspapers, governments, etc. Everything in our life is there to make us want to have more of what we can't have. The apparent freedom of choice leaves us feeling quite discontented.

I suppose the issue being highlighted was that the world hasn't always been this way. There will have been times when people had less but were more content. I've seen this first hand in poor communities in a few parts of the world (voluntourist, me ). I don't feel any more special for being from an affluent country, and actually see much greater levels of togetherness, community, and strength even at times of hardship for these people, much more-so than the general pessimistic and frankly bored attitude of us richer folk. So what has my 'freedom of choice' got me, other than the opportunity to afford a few jollies in the limited free time I do have the luxury of affording? And am I happy about it?

Another issue it pokes into is the whole 'work to live' thing, which is a dying paradigm in today's changing society, but I won't go into it because it's been covered and debated in great detail by the great minds of BCF on many occasion, heh. Well I guess I'll say one thing - we all know technology is leading to less need for human input, so there's less need to work, but still we have this culture where we must work to have the thing we want. Is that the freedom capitalism is selling to us?

So... hmmm... I tried to stay neutral but it hasn't happened .

So I'll continue

It's good and well to say, "I have the strength of mind to sack off all that consumerist false choice bullshit.", but you can only say that in a position where you have the choice to do so. Or in other words, you're probably just about affluent enough to be able to do it, which is good, but also it's down to pure luck. There are many, many other people, globally, who have been presented with this idea of work/live/choice/freedom, and then all they end up with is a large amount of nothing - hence underpaid farmers, factory workers, etc.

And finally, I need to ask myself why I even give a shit. Actually... I don't. But for some reason I feel like I should, otherwise I have no grounds to complain if suddenly the world has the shoe on the other foot and I end up being the one working 48 hour shifts in a sweatshop. So I go as far as ranting emptily on Internet forums about how fucked up the mechanics of society is, and now I am absolved of my inaction.

[Rogerborg]

Observation: socialists are always trying to change the world.

Supposition: video is produced by socialists.

Conclusion: watch porn instead, shuffle money around my accounts to minimise the amount that socialists can steal.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

Yeah but if you do that mrs borg will fucking batter you.
____________________
"Life is a sexually transmitted disease and the mortality rate is one hundred percent."

Mobylette Type 50 ---> Raleigh Grifter ---> Neval Minsk 125

[Rogerborg]

She'll never find the rolling pin, I've hidden it behind the vacuum cleaner.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike