We often perceive a plethora of options and choices to be freeing and empowering. But not only is this relative to our cultural expectations, it can even be counter-productive to be confronted with too many things to choose from. Our discussion of realities and illusions concerning freedom of choice is based on the TED talk "The art of choosing" by Sheena Iyengar (see link below).
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TED talk “The art of choosing” by Sheena Iyengar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDq9-QxvsNU
“While we cannot always choose what happens to us, we can choose our responses.”
— Stephen Covey
“If voting could change anything it would be made illegal!”
— Robert Borden
“Multivariate analysis indicates that economic elites and organised groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on US government policy, while average citizens and mass-based interest groups have little or no independent influence.”
— Excerpt from this 2014 Princeton study:
https://scholar.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/mgilens/files/gilens_and_page_2014_-testing_theories_of_american_politics.doc.pdf
“Poverty is the worst form of violence.”
— Mahatma Gandhi
Other Episodes:
Ep. 51: How Conditioned Are We ?
How much of what you do, think and feel comes from intentional, free chosing? How much of your actions and decisions are pre-programmed? You are the product of your upbringing, culture and genetics. What is out of our control? What can we influence? How can we counteract our predestination?
Ep. 50: What Am I Responsible For ?
Are you taking too little responsibility for your actions, or perhaps too much? How much are you able to understand or determine the consequences of your decisions? Are you in control of anything? Is free will an illusion? Can you do something to improve your thoughts, feelings and relationships with...
Ep. 49: Empathy Can Be A Super Power
Everyone has the choice of either living isolated from other people and their own feelings on the one hand, or to connect with others and their own emotional core. The road towards connectedness involves vulberability and weakness. But it leads to a very rewarding ability that includes deeper understanding of...
Ep. 48: Why Am I Ashamed?
What secrets do you have? What facts about you must never become known to others? What happens in our childhood that implants beliefs in us that hide away for the rest of our life? Can we uncover them deliberately? Can we regain the emotional freedom and levity that playing children...