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There was a book about this called the Paradox of Choice. Basically, that we want choices but they make us less happy.

There's a related phenomenon, I don't know a name for it, where given a choice between convenience and happiness people will almost always choose convenience, generally without even realizing they've made a choice. Our genes have a deep, deep preference for minimizing energy expenditure.




This happens with video games too. Players hate restrictions, but if they were removed, would get board and stop.

For a recent example, look at Valheim. They explicitly block you from using portals to move metal ore, which forces you to use a cart or a boat to move it. Suddenly I was a highway engineer for a few hours and pay more attention to harbour than before and had a blast.

Yet there are mods which remove this restriction, which removes this experience. Why build a highway if I can just drop a portal down?


I occasionally play Minecraft with my young son. I feel that eventual boredom arrives in creative mode. With no constraints, the charm can disappear.

I think constraints generally in a creative process (design, for example) are almost necessary. Graphic designers get it in print budgets, colour selections, quality of photographs, etc.

I remember once having to pitch to build a web site. The client stated they literally had no budget limitation. I honestly didn't know what to do, having spent my entire career fitting a solution to a budget!


World of Warcraft classic is another example. It's a beautiful world thats a pain to get around, but forces you to enjoy it.


Making each even insignificant choice uses your mental energy and each day we have limited amount of these. Consumer capitalism prays on that...

https://youtu.be/hZ7lFV9Z2hk?t=32




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