This Or That?

Life is full of smaller and larger issues to decide upon, and we spend a lot of time trying to make our mind up. It could be those simple decisions about today's dinner, or which shirt to wear. But it could also be something with more far-reaching consequences, like which education to choose. The similarities though, are that it here seems to be a choice between more or less equal options. This or that, what do I like? And it could be solved with the eanie-meanie-minie-moe-method. Whether you're going for the striped shirt or the plain one, you're still wearing something.

But how to decide when it's a do or don't situation? An example: should I sell the car or not? The thought has struck me that I maybe should do that. I find the car to be quite an annoying part of my life; it costs a lot of money to maintain, the gas is awfully expensive and so is the insurance. Not to mention parking fees and turnpikes. But to find the answer I needed to approach the question from a different angle: What would the consequences be without the car? Then it wasn't much of a problem, and I still got the car. As it is now, I need the car more often than not.

So if you're having trouble making your mind up, why not reverse your original question? Realise that when saying yes to one thing, you're at the same time saying no to the opposite, according to the "Principle of bivalence". And then try to see if that's something you would be happy with?

But if you still made the "wrong" decision there's always relief in Festinger's cognitive dissonance theory which

states that contradicting cognitions serve as a driving force that compels the mind to acquire or invent new thoughts or beliefs, or to modify existing beliefs, so as to reduce the amount of dissonance (conflict) between cognitions.

In a way a scary thought, in that you might end up "happy and content" although you didn't go for the choice that would have been the best, just because your brain is wired that way - to protect you from "uncomfortable tension that may result from having two conflicting thoughts at the same time". Isn't it possible then, that this is a reason we're doing the same mistakes over and over again? 'Cause if you're fine with the wrong choice, there's no stopping you from doing it again. And as long as you're not aware of this cognitive dissonance theory and that you're basically fooled, you actually convince yourself and believe you made the right decision! Now, that's a thought...

Time for another decision: Should I go home now? Yes - it's Friday, and it's (almost) late, and I don't want to spend the evening here...