The Paradox Portal
Psychological/Decision

Fredkin's Paradox

The more similar two options, the more time spent deciding between them

Overview

The observation that decision difficulty increases as options become more similar, despite decreasing importance.

When choosing between very different options, the decision is easy and important. When options are nearly identical, the decision is agonizing despite being less important - the outcome barely differs. We spend the most time on decisions that matter least.

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