Worker’s Remorse
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Is the Grass Really Greener on the Other Side?
The vast wealth of knowledge provided by the Internet is both a blessing and a curse.
While we are fortunate to have access to learn anything we want, the consequences of our uber-connected world are becoming too obvious to ignore.
Vroom Vroom
Several studies show that more options lead to more buyer’s remorse.
Imagine the last time you bought a car. For the next several months or years, you probably wondered if you should have gone with that pickup truck for the utility or a cheaper ride for the discount.
If your only choice was between a Toyota Carolla and a Honda Civic, you probably wouldn’t have worried over your decision afterward. They’re pretty similar cars that fulfill the same basic need: Get from point A to point B.
But in reality, you have dozens of manufacturers to choose from and numerous model types for every single year. I bought my car 3 years ago, and to this day, I go back and forth from “Should I have bought a decent pickup truck?” to “Next time, I’m getting something cheaper.”
Buyer’s Remorse Intensifies
With the explosion of the Internet, social media, and phones with 24/7 web access, we can acquire incredible amounts of information in record time.
In 2011, the average American consumed 5 times the amount of information each day compared to 1986, the equivalent of 174 newspapers. That study was conducted over 10 years ago, so one shudders to imagine how many newspapers we consume today.
With the explosion of the Internet, smartphones, social media, and countless other phenomenons, we can peer into the lives of millions of people at any moment.
However, we don’t realize that everyone puts on a fake, carefully manufactured persona that makes us feel inadequate about our deficiencies.
We compare everyone else’s highlight reels to our own bloopers.
The Internet magnifies our buyer’s remorse in several areas of our lives.
Career
Over the past few years, there’s been a massive push to “become a Youtuber,” “get TikTok famous,”…
