According to Schwartz, we as a society are conditioned to accept that "More choice means more freedom; more freedom means more welfare." However, he argues that this dogma is false. More choice actually leads to regret and despair and an inability to enjoy what we have.
Choice forces us to choose-to make a decision. By choosing one, we run the risk of missing out on the other. If it is a question of picking a box of cereal in a grocery store aisle, well, no big deal. However, if it is a question of deciding between the lawyer on the right and the stockbroker on the left to be your life's partner– the decision making process can be downright cruel.
One real possibility of a dilemma is to end up being paralyzed- like the proverbial Buridan's ass. According to the French philosopher Buridan, if an ass is placed in the middle with a stack of hay on one side and a pail of water on its other side, both at the same distance from it, the ass would starve to death as it would not be able to make a decision on which one of them to choose. The choice here paralyzes it. While this is a hypothetical situation, versions of this probably occurs not infrequently as when a person freezes in the middle of a railway track, not being able to decide whether to go forward or backward, in the face of an oncoming train.
Schwartz explains the cruelty of making a choice: What if I miss out on the perfect choice? What if my choice does not meet my expectations? What if I end up regretting my choice? Who else but me to be blamed for this choice? This is nothing less than, as Schwartz labels, the tyranny of choice.
More than 30 years before Barry Schwartz took the stage in his khaki shorts and T shirt at the TED podium, Kannadasan explained this tyranny of choice in one of his songs: Irandu Manam Vendum இரண்டு மனம் வேண்டும்
இரண்டு மனம் வேண்டும்
இறைவனிடம் கேட்டேன்
நினைத்து வாட ஒன்று
மறந்து வாழ ஒன்று
இரவும் பகலும் இரண்டானால்
இன்பம் தும்பம் இரண்டானால்
உறவும் பிரிவும் இரண்டானால்
உள்ளம் ஒன்று போதாதே
Two minds is what I need
I asked of God indeed
One to pine, wallow and wither
The other to forget and live thither
If days and nights are an either or
A similar pair if pleasure and pain are
If passion and separation are not one but two
A single mind is one short too
Life is a series of choices: whether we like it or not, we are forced to choose. It has to be or not to be as in the immortal words of Hamlet. One can either have the cake or eat it; can't do it both ways. Having to choose is not necessarily a blessing; it can veritably be a curse.
In the poem The Road Not taken, Robert Frost came upon the two roads that "...diverged in a yellow wood", and chose the one that was less travelled by. However he felt "Sorry that I could not travel both" and therefore had to title the poem more so for the road that he had missed out on. In his poem he seems to indicate that even as he chose the road less travelled by, he was hoping to try the other one later and so had "kept the first for another day."
Frost made his choice. But what if we are unable to choose? The very choice then becomes a tyranny as Schwartz says, and punishes us.
Kannadasan writes
கண்களின் தண்டனை காட்சி வழி
காட்சியின் தண்டனை காதல் வழி
காதலின் தண்டனை கடவுள் வழி
The punishment of the eyes is through sight
The punishment for sight is through passion
The punishment for passion is through God
This God does seem to have a warped sense of humor. He gives us options but denies us the possibility of enjoying both.
Well, why don't we let God Himself do our choosing? That seems like an easy enough proposition. We can blame the outcome on Him then, right?
Arjuna, in the battlefield of Kurukshetra, had to choose between the better of two evils- To kill his grand father, teacher, cousins and uncles in a blood bath of a civil war or desert his brothers subjecting them to sure slaughter and allow injustice to prevail. Unable to come up with the right answer, he surrenders to Lord Krishna, who is acting as his charioteer, and says
कार्पण्य दोषो पहतः स्वभावः
पृच्छामि त्वां धर्म संमूढ चेताः
यच्छ्रेयः स्यान्निश्चितं ब्रूहि तन्मे
शिष्यस्तेऽहं शाधि मां त्वां प्रपन्नम्
My nature is overwhelmed by a sense of pity; I know not as to what is right. Take me as your disciple and please tell me decisively as to what is ultimately good (shreyas) for me to do.
It cannot be a coincidence that the divine sage Veda Vyasa places the word Shreyas in Arjuna's mouth. It rather is quite possibly a nod to the great Katha Upanishad which very likely inspired the Maharishi to compose the Bhagavad Gita. In the Katha Upanishad, again Lord Yama instructs his disciple, Nachiketas, about life being a series of choices- the path of pleasure (Preyas) versus the path of Ultimate good (Shreyas)
Lord Krishna delivers the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna, pointing out the highest potential that a human being can realize, elaborately painting the picture of perfection and also meticulously detailing the path to reach there. After nearly 700 verses of instruction, the Lord, who is not above mischief, stops short of telling Arjuna what to do. He leaves Arjuna with the burden of choice. Lord Krishna concludes with his famous advice
यथा इच्छसि तथा कुरु: Do as you please
No doubt Kannadasan ends his song with this rhetorical question
கடவுளை தண்டிக்க என்ன வழி
How do I punish this God?
No comments:
Post a Comment