Glamor Economics

Chapter 35

Chapter 5, Section 7 The False Choice That Makes People Helpless——Hobson's Choice
We all have this experience in our lives. We are faced with various choices, but many of them are false choices. We are often confused by the many options on the surface, but in fact there is only one option or no option in front of us.This phenomenon is called "Hobsonian selection" in economics.This statement comes from a story about Hobson, a businessman in Cambridge, England.

In 1631, Hobson, a businessman from Cambridge, England, was engaged in the horse business. He said: "Everyone buys my horse or rents my horse. The price is absolutely cheap, and you can choose whatever you want." There are many, but the stables have only one small door.Tall horses cannot get out, and those who can get out are thin horses and ponies.Hobbes only allowed people to choose at the exit of the stables.Everyone picks and chooses, thinking that they have completed a satisfactory choice, and the final result can be imagined-it is just a low-level decision-making result, and its essence is a small choice, a false choice, and a formalistic choice.

It can be seen that this kind of choice is a limited choice in a limited space. No matter how you think, evaluate and screen, you will end up with a bad horse.Later, the management scientist Simon ridiculed this so-called "choice" with no choice as Hobson's choice.

In life, we often encounter similar traps. We often hear "free choice", but in fact, this freedom is always more or less restricted and restricted, which greatly narrows the range of choices.

To give a simple example, for a free college student, he can work after graduation, go to graduate school, study abroad, or even become a freelancer.However, the real choice is not like this: because of the limited pockets, the choice of studying abroad has actually existed in name only; because of poor English foundation, the possibility of passing the English score for the postgraduate entrance examination is very low, which undoubtedly makes postgraduate study an option; because His family strongly opposed him being a freelancer, so he had to give up this choice... This is the shackles that the cruel reality put on the choice, so he had to find a formal job after graduation.

When an entrepreneur selects a department manager, he is often limited to selecting talents within his own circle. No matter how fair, just and free he is, he only selects within a small range, and Hobson's choice is prone to occur. Even the dismal situation of "the dwarf pulls out the general" appeared. "When it seems that there is only one way to go, it is often the wrong way." There is no doubt that there is only one alternative, and there is no meritocracy. Without meritocracy, decision-making loses its meaning.

Hobson's choice has always existed in our lives.Although in theory you always have many choices, but due to the existence of certain restrictions, the scope of your choice is reduced, and you are even only allowed to have one choice.Restricted choices are not for nothing.Under the modern commodity economy, the means of production are becoming more and more abundant. Going into the supermarket and facing similar products of various brands often makes people feel a little bit at a loss.Who can guarantee that their choice must be correct?If there is only one product to choose from, people's perception of the product is already very clear, no longer have these worries, people can at least choose to buy or not to buy.In addition, if there is only one choice, the opportunity cost of choosing is also saved.

Of course, the vast majority of people still hope to have more choices, and more choices are always pleasant.Therefore, we should use our eyes of wisdom to gain insight into the so-called Hobsonian choice and create as many choices as possible for ourselves.

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Hobson's Choice Effect Social psychologists pointed out that if anyone falls into the dilemma of Hobson's choice, it is impossible to carry out creative study, life and work.The reason is that good and bad, good and bad, are all produced in limited choices. Only by drawing up a certain number and quality of plans for comparison and selection, can the choice be made reasonable.The optimal choice can only be realized by conducting research among many alternative alternatives and being able to make judgments based on their understanding.

(End of this chapter)