Barry Schwartz According to Barry, choice is a good thing. Until there's too much of it, that is. By overloading us with options, in education, sex, religion, or clothing, more choices not only make us less satisfied, they debilitate us. Read an excerpt from his powerful new book.

About the author:
Barry Schwartz is the Dorwin Cartwright Professor of Social Theory and Social Action in the Psychology Department at Swarthmore College, where he has taught since 1971. He is the author of ten books, among them The Battle for Human Nature, The Costs of Living, and in 2004, The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less. He is a fellow of both the American Psychological Association and the American Psychological Society. His research and teaching focus on the intersection of psychology and economics, and more specifically on how the abundance of choice in modern life both liberates and bedevils those who face it.