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The Paradox of Choice in Modern Tech

Psychologist Barry Schwartz wrote the book, The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less. His theory, to put it simply, is that our society abides by the dogma that we should maximize individual freedom. And the way to maximize individual freedom is to maximize choice. This is deeply embedded in our culture, and hardly anyone questions it.


If you are like most people, you can probably think of one instance (or many!) where you were somewhat paralyzed by a decision you had to make. It can be something as ordinary as which cast iron pan to buy. Or which coffee machine. Or which new TV. When moving, you have endless furniture and décor options. If you’re not careful, all of these can become incredibly consuming endeavors. You will search far and wide on the internet to persuade or dissuade you from purchasing a certain item. You will search Reddit threads debating the item you want to buy. Before you know it, you’ve spent hours determining which coffee machine is right for you. Or worse, you will have exhausted yourself to the point that you put off the decision until tomorrow. Where there is the chance that you repeat the same process again!


This is the paradox of choice.



Now, too often, people will argue against something by arguing for its complete inverse. It’s something of a logical fallacy. A false dichotomy. In this case, that would be to have all your choices made for you. Or to have no choice at all. That’s not the ticket.


But we need to face the reality of our current situation as human beings and as consumers in a market completely oversaturated with choice. We must search for remedies, lest we end up in a perpetual state of decision fatigue. Which isn’t much of a life.


The paradox of choice was a huge element and inspiration behind the philosophy of SLEKE. Modern smartphones are almost a perfect embodiment of the paradox of choice. Your average iPhone and Android offer app stores with up to 2 million different apps available for download from more than 800,000 publishers. Embedded within the most popular apps (Instagram, TikTok, Amazon, YouTube, etc.) is also an endless array of choices (by design). The choice architecture is dizzying if you really think about it.


This is the irony of our current moment. Consumers have more choices than at any point in history. Yet we often hear people say they need to “find a new show”. This should be studied! (Source: Irina Blok)
This is the irony of our current moment. Consumers have more choices than at any point in history. Yet we often hear people say they need to “find a new show”. This should be studied! (Source: Irina Blok)

Basically, when you are bored or have an idle moment, you are beckoned and faced with an infinite number of choices to act as a salve to that boredom. All handily available on the supercomputer in your pocket. But what are you losing? What inspiration through daydreaming and contemplation is failing to reach you? What hobby or activity are you not pursuing? And has anyone ever put their phone down after rabidly consuming short form content and thought to themselves: “Wow, I feel really rejuvenated from that.” No, because that content is mentally exhausting, whether we know it or not.1


So, we at SLEKE want to help people create more space for inspiration in their life. More space for boredom, as odd as that may sound. Boredom is filled with potential. We want to help people escape the void of choices and infinite feeds within their iPhone. That’s why SLEKE was created. To escape this labyrinthine paradox of infinite choice. To escape it at least in one aspect of our life; the companion device we have with us everywhere we go. You’ll still have 100 salad dressings to choose from at the grocery store and thousands of options in countless consumer categories.


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But having a smartphone that nudges us toward the better angels of our nature is one way to push back against the devices that nudge us in the opposite direction. Because whether we like it or not, each day we are influenced by systems architects that can have a profound effect on our lived experience. Look no further than Richard Thaler and his Nobel prize winning research. His work revealed that whoever controls the design of our decision environment, whether that be a supermarket layout or a smartphone interface, wields enormous power over our choices. Often without us even realizing it.


For example, in his landmark study, he found that simply changing cafeteria layouts to place healthier foods at eye level increased nutritious food selection by 25%. Even more impactful is his research on retirement savings. Which showed that when employees were automatically enrolled in 401(k) plans but allowed to opt out, rather than requiring them to opt in, participation rates soared from around 40% to over 90%.2


So consider the SLEKE phone a transparently better system that will hopefully nudge you towards more life-affirming choices. A phone that instead of taking up space in your life, gives you that space back to reclaim your agency and move towards things that really matter.


So, if you’re reading this, take this as a call to action to take back your time and autonomy. You can do it by, paradoxically, choosing something that presents you with less choices. A bit confusing, I know.


We believe SLEKE has one of the best options out there, but we see a ton of other creators building awesome products with intention as well. The momentum is there. If it’s not us, keep looking for options that fall outside the existing smartphone paradigm. Your life will be better for it.


Thanks for reading and as always,


Do Cool Stuff.


If you have some time, give the Barry Schwartz Ted Talk a watch!



What We’re Reading, Watching, and Listening To:

  • This thoughtful piece from Jose Briones helps people develop a strategy to escape digital dependency. Jose is something of a pioneer in the dumbphone space and has been posting about and reviewing dumbphones for about 5 years. Check out his YouTube channel as well.

  • All Tech Is Human just dropped five free courses covering everything from RAI principles and risk mitigation to operationalizing AI governance in real organizations. As AI becomes more prevalent, work like this is invaluable as we navigate the new frontier.

  • Can Gen Z Get Rid of Its iPhones? by Elias Wachtel Remember when “there’s an app for that” sounded exciting instead of exhausting? This great piece by a Gen Z writer for The Atlantic chronicles their journey ditching their iPhone for a “dumbphone”. Wachtel realized that app-blocking apps weren’t solving the real problem, which was the phone itself. Sound familiar? This is yet more evidence of the growing awareness that something is wrong with the design of our phones. Wachtel opted for the Light Phone and detailed some of the logistical roadblocks he ran into. We think the Light Phone is awesome, but we hope more people realize there may be a solution that retains the logistical convenience while abiding by a similar ethos to the Light Phone. We’re trying to create the best of both worlds. Anyhow, give it a read!


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