Are We Overwhelmed by Too Many Choices?

Article Tools

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

Lifton, who made a name for himself studying the psychological condition of Hiroshima survivors, claims that human beings are in a state of transformation, entering a new mode of being that will help us navigate this world of multiple choice. Rather than seeing ourselves as “unsteady, neurotic, or worse” in a world that seems inconstant and unpredictable, “We are becoming fluid and many sided. . . . This mode of being differs radically from that of the past, and enables us to engage in continuous exploration and personal experiment,” he wrote in The Protean Self (Basic, 1993).

Embodying only one aspect of your self when making decisions—as a successful business person, say, but not the role as daughter of a working-class family, or resident of a community afflicted by poverty or pollution—may make decisions more cut and dried, but will not address one’s underlying struggles and anxieties. Embracing one’s multiple sides often takes more time, but it is a more honest and ultimately more valuable way to make important choices. Decisions may come with less certainty, but more connection to life and humanity.

Lifton named this new mode of being the “protean self” based on the shape-shifting Greek sea god Proteus. The story goes that if you could hold onto Proteus long enough as he went through his changing forms—from lion, to dragon, to tree—he would eventually tell you all that you need to know. Lifton sees such evolution as a positive sign of human resilience. “My conviction is that certain manifestations of proteanism are not only desirable but necessary for the human future,” he writes.

This way of thinking has inspired me. I’m planning to call on Proteus the next time I’m feeling anxious when faced with a choice, large or small. I’m not quite sure how it will work yet, but I’m hoping that I’ll be able to watch myself as I go through questions and contortions, considering my choices, and the potential ramifications of my decisions, from many points of view, paying particular attention to identifying pressures coming from outside myself. I’m hoping that instead of choosing a familiar route, I’ll be more flexible and more patient as I take the time to sift through my options until my body tells me what I need to know to make a good—and less anxiety-ridden—decision.

Karen Olson is a senior editor at Utne.

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print