Paradox of Choice

June 17, 2009

I've finally had a couple days to let my taking a leave of absence from school settle. The die has been cast; I am welcome back later but am officially no longer a graduate student. The time away has already allowed me to step back a little and try to regain a new perspective since, at least for the time being, I am neither studying nor filming. I literally wake up and can do anything I want for a few months; funny to realize that that freedom is there if we want it [past a base level of economic stability] but the daily patterns in a Western environment keep lassoing the brain back into a 9-5 mindset (or in filming, 7-9!).

There's an amazing psychological phenomenon known as the 'paradox of choice': that, contrary to folk wisdom, having more options actually makes us quite a bit less happy. I've been trying to run three careers (host, phd student, science/artist) at the same time, dealing with the first half of the paradox: choice paralysis. The existence of more choices causes more hesitation and stress over the making of that choice. I don't think I'll ever be able to decide just one path; two days into it I'd wonder what would be happening along another path. We all deal with this in our own ways.

Secondly, the existence of more choices actually makes us less happy. The brain is this ultra-powerful strategizing machine, creating parallel scenarios, playing them out in parts of our body, judging their fitness for our lives. And if you are given 500 choices of shampoo, you end up sadder than when you only had 5 - even if you would choose the same shampoo. The existence of choice allows the brain to think of so many scenarios, that after you've chosen, there's that many more ways that might have ended up going better for you. The brain is not very happy with that!

There's a great TED Talk available online by the author of 'Paradox of Choice,' Barry Schwartz. The TED conference, 'Ideas worth spreading,' follows the awesome collaborative model of having the best scientists give the best talks and releasing videos of the talks all for free on their website. Contrary again to popular folk wisdom, this is a case where giving the information away for free is priceless - their ticket sales have risen, if anything, by the enormous exposure generated by viral videos. And so many more people are exposed to the ideas worth spreading!

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Within the production of Time Warp, I have struggled with the level of science we are able to translate to a mass audience. The editorial decisions are not up to me in the end, but I do spend most of my waking time strategizing all the possible options and paths this show could take, which can easily lead to frustration (choice... see above). To add to that, I get letters almost daily from scientifically-minded fans, asking why there isn't more science available on the show.

I've gone through many similar thoughts about the level of science. But one thing I've realized, and it's something I think well worth considering: most people in this country do not care about science. The educational system does a dismal job of preparing our children to possess an emotional connection to science. It prepares them to be able to 'do science' as if it's a form-letter, a known product. But science is a process of discovery - it can be as fun as going to the beach, as varied and complex as life itself, as emotionally rewarding as any act of creativity - it is, to me, the act of creation.

I do this show to attempt to spread the emotions that can be gotten through the process of doing science. And this makes many people that are already emotionally connected to science disappointed because we don't cover all the topics they want to see. But we're reaching this gigantic group of people, who might only peripherally care about science, and thus this show has an amazing niche to function as a show that helps people start to care about science. Start to think science is cool. Start to realize that the universe was not made for us to understand - so it's going to have its challenges; but questioning and attempting to understand something so much bigger than ourselves can deepen the meaning in our everyday lives. That science is a process, not a product.

These are the people I would like to reach most!

Time Warp is all about taking things outside of the human perceptive and perspective range, and bringing them closer to a form we can process. So I'm trying to keep that perspective myself, and think about how we can evolve the show slowly into a form that can please everyone more. I have some ideas, and want to take the next few months to develop them and judge their fitness. I have meanwhile been on Twitter, trying to share ideas as they come. Please feel free to join in the conversation! (I just wish they would change their tagline from 'What are you doing?' but 'What are you thinking?' or 'What are you feeling?' - such deep potential in that tool to bring people together...) The conversation should be like information itself - open source, fully collaborative. I am open to your many ideas - how should this show evolve?

boranj,
Jeff

Comments

[Nick Stone]

Hi I'm a big fan of the show time warp and i'm not writing to comment on anything.... I just wanna suggest something to warp! I don't really know where to suggest this at but here; so hopefully this will make it to the time warp lab. Iv seen you guys do a warp on breaking bats for baseball; so what I was thinking would awesome slowed down would be for you guys to get a baseball pitcher and time warp all the differnt pitches like: curve ball, knuckle ball, slider, change up and ect.. I think that would make a perfect time warp show... But just a suggestion. Hey if you guys do happen to do it can you email me and let me know what time and day you will show it? Anyways I'm a huge fan and hope my idea makes it... Have a nice day

[lauren]

I was struck by your statement "most people in this country do not care about science".

This is something that I think about a lot. Why do people care about some things and not others? As an artist, scientist, designer, engineer, student, teacher, person, etc, what can I do to facilitate engagement? For any given idea, what are the entry points/stimuli that attract our attention, allow us to relate and form a connection, and inspire us to actively participate?

I think an important point, and one that your show has touched on, is making the connection between an abstract idea/concept and your own life. We are animals focused on survival; the further removed something is from the scope of ourselves the harder it becomes to feel interested or invested in it. However, as an increasingly networked culture, a species coexisting with many others on one planet, a step in an evolutionary process that spans time, we are much more connected to everything than we may realize.

I think that your show has very successfully found some specific entry points for people to this path toward understanding and appreciating the relationship between science and ourselves. I think there could be others. What is the 'typical time warp fan' like, and how could this definition be expanded, experimented with, exploded to include many more people? Through which different channels can you reach the people that only 'peripherally care about science', and help them see it is integral to the things they are thinking about, too?

When I'm deep into a project, or trying to make a difficult choice, I visualize it as a kind of object. A thing that I am simultaneously completely engulfed in the middle of, exploring all the corners and holes and details, and outside of, turning it around and looking at it from infinite perspectives. In how many different ways and contexts can you reframe and reexamine science so that more of us can understand we're all talking about the same thing from many different angles?

[Carly]

I totally agree about "too many choices" making people more unhappy. I left the USA for a number of years, and upon my return have been incredibly overwhelmed by going to the store...the cereal aisle in particular makes me anxious. Why do people "need" a whole aisle of different cereals? Really? Most of which are bad for us?

As far as the evolution of "Time Warp," I think that it is important to have a balance. You don't want to create a show that is so science driven that it goes over most people's heads, but at the same time, you do want to teach people about science.

I personally wish there was a bit more technical information as to how certain things work (i.e. how the molecular structure of a gel can insulate a hand from fire).

I am a closeted science nerd. I love science, but like a lot of women, am intimidated by the dominance of men in the field(s). My favorite class in school was physics, but I ended up going into film-making and creative writing because i felt that even though i loved science, I couldn't find a way to express that (i blame the a**hole guys I went to high school with, that and one A**hole math teacher who made me despise going to advanced algebra--though i later learned to love logarithms!!!).

I think learning to love science and to understand that it is a fluid process, instead of a set of rigid rules--or punishment (as many young people in this country view it), all depends on the teacher and how science is taught. I think "Time Warp" is an incredible tool, and that it allows science to be more accessible. You can tell that you, Jeff, are passionate about what you are doing, and that excitement and passion is contagious--you want everyone to love science the way you do. This makes you a great teacher--and you don't need a PhD to be a great teacher and educator...

Enough of my blabber. Keep up the great work and don't fret to much about all the choice in this world (it is enough to make you go crazy!).

xox