, Columnist
Technology Needs a Human Touch
Word of mouth sneaks back into the decision equation.
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Let's talk about a scourge of modern times. There is so much stuff to watch, read, listen to, buy, eat or learn about. The world is available at our fingertips at any moment. It feels glorious but also horribly, paralyzingly overwhelming.
Should I wade into Spotify's sea of every song ever recorded or give up and listen to my downloaded copy of Adele's "Hello" for the 47,000th time? Psychologist Barry Schwartz called this the "paradox of choice" in his 2004 book of the same name. Like many ideas that come out of TED Talks, it is too simplistic to say more choices are counterproductive, but I think we've all experienced the feeling.