When a shove becomes a nudge

Nudge by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein reminds me quite a bit of The Paradox Of Choice by Barry Schwartz. Both books are aimed at improving the decisions people make when faced with a deluge of information and misinformation. They also offer practical solutions and advice.

However, I sense that in everyday circumstances, it is hard to even come to terms with so many sources and types of information. Having to even start sieving through them can lead to self-doubt and paralysis in decision-making.

That being said, I would consider Nudge to be a book for the learned simply because there are segments of people in society who do not have the time, ability and will power to summon their wits to finish reading a book about decision-making, let alone understand what "paternalistic libertarianism" means. A lot more hidden assumptions have to be made of the reader, such as taking it for granted that literacy will lead to full comprehension of implications of making bias decisions. Practising what is preached happens, but less than what we expect.

The good news is that nudging might work, but then again, people who are encouraged to choose certain actions as a result of "choice architecture" (say, in a cafeteria, unhealthy food is obscured or put further down the line to encourage diners to pick the healthier offerings first and give the rest a miss) might learn to overcome it, or worse, come to expect "choice architecture" to be a vital part of everyday living.

It's a tough life, with all these choosing.


To learn about deciding between
hard choices and on how to satisfice, read: