Is there such thing as too many options?

[Formaldehyde Rx]

Sensory information isn't information?

I think the problem comes when people try to act like their choices actually matter. I think the problem with too many choices is that the creation of a new choice in energy drink may use up resources that should be used for something more important. But I don't personally have a problem with discriminating between options.

 

[Hutch]

i think the issues i'm getting at are a bit of both.

I agree. This thread seems to have an unusual fascination for breakfast cereal, so I'll use that as an example. Marketing clearly aims to attract the consumers attention in any way possible. How are you going to decide what cereal to buy?

Well, just go to the supermarket and you'll see cereals in a huge range of different sized boxes, colours covering the full spectrum of the rainbow, various logos and animal 'mascots' with catchy phrases, all designed to draw your attention. I'd consider that a sensory overload, especially for young children.

Then there's the information overload. We're grown ups now, and we don't get drawn into such gimmicks as easily as we used to. Companies are taking a more information based approach - hmmm, should I get the cereal that contains 30% less fat? Or the one which provides 20% of the daily dietary intake of iron and niacin? Or the one with the low glycemic index? How about the one which uses recycled packaging - that's gotta be good for the environment. Oh, but this one's proudly owned and produced in the US. Decisions decisions. i.e. information overload.

Even now, half the time when I buy something (mainly larger products, such as coffee machines etc.), I have doubts after the purchase and wonder 'maybe I should have gone for my second choice, it did have this nifty feature - or even the third choice, it was a bit cheaper' etc.

 

[Hutch]

you don't think all of the gadgets and the internet and TV and multi-tasking and options in everything can contribute to creating a mimicking of ADD or ADHD over time? i feel that the clutter in general that attacks all senses will foster some kind of disorder that could effect people's ability to just sit still and do nothing because their brains are stimulated by so many messages of all kinds.

Again, I agree.

Nowadays we have so many things that can be done, very few of us are happy when we don't get to do all of them. When I think about how relaxed my grandparents were, and compare them to our current generation, the differences are obvious. 50 years ago crafts were common - sit down in front of the fire all day, make a cross stitch or knit something, read a book with a cup of tea and just relax. Nowadays, in the same amount of time, we all need to check our emails, go to the shops, read a bit, watch a tv show, drive to the cinemas, back home to check the emails again and post in the siccness forums, cook dinner while we listen to our ipods, finish that assignment etc.

People can't even catch the bus nowadays because it's 'too slow'! It's a 'waste of time'. I think one of our problems is that we treat time as though it were an asset nowadays, so instead of being comfortable relaxing we take on this crazed persona of a person with ADD or ADHD and rush around like mad idiots trying to achieve everything and yet end up doing very little that is actually important.

 

[Sergeant Hustle]

^^^exactly what i was getting at. there is a destruction in our haste and a waste in our infinite options that leaves people rushed, unfocused, and perpetually nervous and/or unhappy. it will develop into some kind of condition down the line. it's like meth babies. we don't have enough data yet to see how fucked up this new generation of meth babies is until they actually grow up. once we can watch them grow and compare them to "normal" kids, we can make some differentiations. i believe the same studies will be conducted about this age of excess in sensory/information overload and how it contributes to some kind of new disorder called ______________.