TEDTalks: Barry Schwartz (2005) Videos

samfuller Says:

Jul 7, 2008 - who says millionaires are happy? I bet they're miserable.

davidshanesmith Says:

Jul 7, 2008 - Ive read all the recent comments. None of you even watched this whole video because he isnt saying choice grants freedom. He opens with the statement that this is the "current dogma"did you miss that?He then explains how it actually leads to confusion and paralysis. Then he proposes wealth redistrobution.Which he probably needs another video to focus on, but none the less his view I think was misunderstood by some people.

helimax Says:

Jul 7, 2008 - Here'something that has worked somewhat for me since I stumbled accross this school of thought last year. Faced with a large amount of choice and being aware of the hazards involved in mulling over my descision , like trying to buy one pair of shoes out of 200 in a shoe shop, I decide early and that descision is final very , buy a pair i think I like - or leave. Stopping myself thinking my way into discontent with any one choice. Options alone are not the enemy, indescision is.

thetubemeister Says:

Jul 7, 2008 - I agree this seems a weak or limited concept. freedom lies in our ability to choose freely, ultimately the only one stopping us from making a choice is ourselves, our own psychologies and our own justifications, but outside of consumerism, a world of infinite choice is an expansive and empowering discovery that most would embrace.

amangat1 Says:

Jul 7, 2008 - 15:20, secret of happinesslarry david

CodeKitten Says:

Jul 7, 2008 - Again, beautiful!

dukenukem001 Says:

Jul 7, 2008 - Hahahaha brilliant, whats the point in this lecture? what is his solution, oh its the unachievable distribution of wealth, thats helpful, oh wait and lower your expectations.

davyn0707 Says:

Jul 7, 2008 - Perhaps I just don't fit the model of the people he mentioned in his examples (and I'm sure he knows more about it than I do), but I generally stick by what choice I make. I really don't think "well, hell, I could've made a better choice!" This was an insightful lecture though. But I still say the more choice the better!...sorry if it makes some people feel bad. Perhaps those people should change their attitudes a little and be more confident in themselves and their choices...

davyn0707 Says:

Jul 7, 2008 - "Options alone are not the enemy, indecision is." Exactly what I was trying to say but for some reason couldn't get it out as clearly as you. I agree completely! :)

OneManUtopia Says:

Jul 7, 2008 - They've done research on this and found that the correlation between wealth and happiness is logarithmic, so having more and more money only makes you statistically slightly happier. Of course, people who are used to having little money who suddenly have lots of it, ie, lotto winners, usually are less happy one year later than they were before they won.

MrCropper Says:

Jul 7, 2008 - At first I was like, "Wow, this guy is evil," then I read the info in the sidebar - he is a sociology professor. No wonder he's so evil.

WarVideo Says:

Jul 7, 2008 - When I hear people like this talk I want to take a shower.

senselessbattery Says:

Jul 7, 2008 - "If some of what enables people in our societies to make all of the choices we make were shifted to societies in which people have too few options, not only will those peoples lives be improved but our would be also."What right have YOU to decide for ME that my the product of MY work should be given away, even if I believed that it was for my own good.What would become of our society if you gave away the capital WE create???

0neironaut Says:

Jul 7, 2008 - "evil". you resentful slave.

kashphlinktu Says:

Jul 7, 2008 - I think this guy's advice may be valid in terms of user interface design, and it is a compelling argument in favor of using expert opinions to guide you, but this really not good advice for public policy. Is he saying that the government should make these choices for you? Because that worked so well in the soviet union. Or is he saying that our society should become radically more conservative so that women simply have their place, etc? Because I think there are some women who will disagree.

xilliah Says:

Jul 7, 2008 - Listen up people who don't understand because this is the way to more happiness.

Entropy56 Says:

Jul 7, 2008 - Oh no; another choice. Now I have to decide whether this guy is right or not. Can't someone just tell me?

indiodemexico Says:

Jul 7, 2008 - i was hoping for something a bit more ..groundbreaking.. meh

fortunatus Says:

Jul 7, 2008 - I dunt agree! D:

scottburton11 Says:

Jul 7, 2008 - I've never agreed with Schwartz's argument. I believe choice is always preferable. I don't want one phone from the phone company. Every time I hear him rattle off this list of social ills that choice hath brung, and think "and this is bad why?"That said, he digs around the edges of the concept that negative liberty is an experiment which has brought us tremendous distress. This is a compelling argument, which Adam Curtis makes much more convincingly in "The Trap", which I encourage you to view

niansenx Says:

Jul 7, 2008 - Our modern life is but a minuscule fraction of the total time we have evolved. Who are we to say, with our modern educated minds, what is best for us? Might we flourish from being told what we are and what we do? I'm not saying that others know what is best for us (big brother style), but perhaps we flourish with constraints.All we want in life is to be happy, to feel our lives have been lived with purpose. Maybe constraints on our freedom give us a sense of purpose.

freerubytuesday Says:

Jul 7, 2008 - ah well, i'm a libran, i understand what he's on about completely.

rjamesgoebel Says:

Jul 7, 2008 - and yet another ex-hippy has 'ideas' which aren't bad, but aren't good. Sociologists... Study some statistics or something and then apply it to the real world

richi1173 Says:

Jul 7, 2008 - yes, that sense of purpose is to be totally happy. I mean, why do we do the basic things as to gather food, build a shelter, and form communities? To be away from death, or to be happy (which is to be ignorant of death). Yet to be truly away from death, we have to deal with an infinite amount of possibilities for that death, which is impossible to do. However, that gives us a purpose that will essentially never cease. The purpose of humanity is to achieve perfection, but it can never do it.

wasdom01 Says:

Jul 7, 2008 - Thank you Scottburton11! I've been interested in the freedom/choice debate for a while and The Trap was a really eye opening documentary.