In Fantasy Football, More Is More

The New York Times:

Fantasy footballers’ search for psychological comfort has a distinct ring to it. It sounds a little something like this: “I’ll never draft Player X.”

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We don’t like choices. We like certainty. We yearn for it, in fact, and we’ll do any manner of mental gymnastics to achieve some level of certainty in our decisions, even if our justifications are illogical.

But this reach for certainty – for psychological comfort – can damage your fake football squad. Writing off fantasy commodities without good reason is a hallmark of the loser’s mind-set. And it’s far from rare. You’ll probably encounter the willful elimination of choice in every fantasy football league you enter this year.

In 2004, the psychologist Barry Schwartz wrote a book, “The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less,” in which he argues that the glut of choices we have – from food to jeans to TV shows – has made us unhappy, causing confusion and uncertainty at every turn, in everything we do.

Read the whole story: The New York Times