Summary of Sheena Iyengar's The Art of Choosing

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 We often ask these questions not because we’re looking for survival tips, but because we’re fascinated by our limits and our ability to cope with the kinds of extreme conditions that there is little preparation for.

#2 The author explains that choice is an extremely powerful force that determines how we live. We can measure our lives by the choices we make, which brings us to where we are today.

#3 In 1957, Curt Richter conducted an experiment that showed how some rats were more persistent than others. The rats were placed in a situation where they had to swim for their lives, and even though the water temperature was the same, some rats continued swimming for an average of 60 hours before becoming exhausted.

#4 When we speak of choice, what we mean is the ability to exercise control over ourselves and our environment. To choose, we must first perceive that control is possible. The rats kept swimming despite mounting fatigue and no apparent means of escape because they had already tasted freedom, which they had attained through their own vigorous wriggling efforts.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Apr 27, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669395126

IRB Media

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Insights on Sheena Iyengar's The Art of Choosing

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 7

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

We often ask these questions not because we’re looking for survival tips, but because we’re fascinated by our limits and our ability to cope with the kinds of extreme conditions that there is little preparation for.

#2

The author explains that choice is an extremely powerful force that determines how we live. We can measure our lives by the choices we make, which brings us to where we are today.

#3

In 1957, Curt Richter conducted an experiment that showed how some rats were more persistent than others. The rats were placed in a situation where they had to swim for their lives, and even though the water temperature was the same, some rats continued swimming for an average of 60 hours before becoming exhausted.

#4

When we speak of choice, what we mean is the ability to exercise control over ourselves and our environment. To choose, we must first perceive that control is possible. The rats kept swimming despite mounting fatigue and no apparent means of escape because they had already tasted freedom, which they had attained through their own vigorous wriggling efforts.

#5

The corticostriatal network is the main brain system engaged when making choices. It is responsible for evaluating the reward associated with the experience, and it makes the connection between wanting what you want and getting it. The prefrontal cortex, located behind your forehead, is responsible for making complex cost-benefit analyses of immediate and future consequences.

#6

The power of choice is an innate desire to choose the best option out of all those presented. However, sometimes the desire for choice becomes so strong that it interferes with the pursuit of these benefits.

#7

Zoos are places where animals are kept in unnatural environments, and they experience many complications. The animals have no way of knowing whether the food that has magically appeared each day will appear again tomorrow, and they have no power to provide for themselves.

#8

The need for control is a powerful motivator, even when it can lead to harm. The endocrine system produces stress hormones such as adrenaline when under duress, and the body responds by remaining in a state of heightened alert.

#9

Zoos cannot match the level of stimulation and exercise that animals experience in the wild. When one has no control, it feels