While your Psychology Theory of Everything is certainly interesting, I disagree with its premise that people avoid doing what they believe others would perceive as the result of an arbitrary decision. In fact, research suggests that when faced with uncertainty, people tend to seek out and make decisions based on the opinions of others. This concept, known as social proof, is defined by Cialdini as “the phenomenon by which people reference the behaviors of others to decide on proper conduct in a given situation”. Furthermore, when presented with a large number of choices, people often rely on heuristics, or mental shortcuts, to narrow down the options and make a decision. This is because people are less likely to feel overwhelmed or uncertain when faced with a smaller number of choices. Thus, while it may be true that people are afraid of making arbitrary decisions and prefer to conform to the decisions of others, they are also more likely to make decisions based on the opinions of others and less likely to be paralyzed by the paradox of choice. UrRong!
