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Doorcloser,areyou?1Thenexttimeyou'redecidingbetweenrivaloptions,onewhichisprimaryandtheotherwhichissecondary,askyourselfthisquestion:WhatwouldXiangYudo?2XiangYuwasaChineseimperialgeneralinthethirdcenturyBCwhotookhistroopsacrosstheZhangRiveronaraidintoenemyterritory.Tohistroops'astonishment,heorderedtheircookingpotscrushedandtheirsailingshipsburned.3Heexplainedthathewasimposingonthemanecessityforattainingvictoryovertheiropponents.Whathesaidwassurelymotivating,butitwasn'treallyappreciatedbymanyofhisloyalsoldiersastheywatchedtheirvesselsgoupinflames.ButthegeniusofGeneralXiangYu'sconvictionwouldbevalidatedbothonthebattlefieldandinmodernsocialscienceresearch.GeneralXiangYuwasarareexceptiontothenorm,aveteranleaderwhowashighlyrespectedforhismanyconquestsandwhoachievedthesummitofsuccess.4HeisfeaturedinDanAriely'senlighteningnewpublication,PredictablyIrrational,afascinatinginvestigationofseeminglyirrationalhumanbehavior,suchasthetendencyforkeepingmultipleoptionsopen.Mostpeoplecan'tmarshalthewillforpainfulchoices,notevenstudentsattheMassachusettsInstituteofTechnology(MIT),whereDr.Arielyteachesbehavioraleconomics.Inanexperimentthatinvestigateddecision-making,hundredsofstudentscouldn'tbeartolettheiroptionsvanish,eventhoughitwascleartheywouldprofitfromdoingso.5Theexperimentrevolvedaroundagamethateliminatedtheexcusesweusuallyhaveforrefusingtoletgo.Intherealworld,wecanalwayssay,It'sgoodtopreserveouroptions.Wantagoodexample?Ateenagerisexhaustedfromsoccer,ballet,piano,andChineselessons,butherparentswon'tstopanyoneofthembecausetheymightcomeinhandysomeday!6Intheexperimentsessions,studentsplayedacomputergamethatprovidedcashbehindthreedoorsappearingonthescreen.Therulewasthemoremoneyyouearned,thebetterplayeryouwere,givenatotalof100clicks.Everytimethestudentsopenedadoorbyclickingonit,theywoulduseuponeclickbutwouldn'tgetanymoney.However,eachsubsequentclickonthatdoorwouldearnafluctuatingsumofmoney,withonedooralwaysrevealingmoremoneythantheothers.Theimportantpartoftherulewaseachdoorswitch,thoughhavingnocashvalue,wouldalsouseuponeofthe100clicks.Therefore,thewinningstrategywastoquicklycheckallthedoorsandkeepclickingontheonewiththeseeminglyhighestrewards.7Whileplayingthegame,studentsnoticedamodifiedvisualelement:Anydoorleftun-clickedforashortwhilewouldshrinkinsizeandvanish.Sincetheyalreadyunderstoodthegame,theyshouldhaveignoredthevanishingdoors.Nevertheless,theyhurriedtoclickonthelesserdoorsbeforetheyvanished,tryingtokeepthemopen.Asaresult,theywastedsomanyclicksrushingbacktothevanishingdoorsthattheylostmoneyintheend.Whywerethestudentssoattachedtothelesserdoors?Theywouldprobablyprotestthattheywereclingingtothedoorstokeepfutureoptionsopen,but,accordingtoDr.Ariely,thatisn'tthetruefactor.8Insteadoftheexcusetomaintainfutureoptionsopen,underneathitallthestudents'desirewastoavoidtheimmediate,thoughtemporary,painofwatchingoptionsclose.Closingadooronanoptionisexperiencedasaloss,andpeoplearewillingtopayabigpricetoavoidtheemotionofloss,Dr.Arielysays.Intheexperiment,thepricewaseasilymeasuredinlostcash.Inlife,thecorrespondingcostsareoftenlessobvioussuchaswastedtimeormissedopportunities.9Sometimesthesedoorsareclosingtooslowlyforustoseethemvanishing,Dr.Arielywrites.Wemayworkmorehoursatourjobswithoutrealizingthatthechildhoodofoursonsanddaughtersisslippingaway.10So,whatcanbedonetorestorebalanceinourlives?Oneanswer,Dr.Arielysays,istoimplementmoreprohibitionsonoverbooking.Wecanworktoreduceoptionsonourown,delegatingtaskstoothersandevengivingawayideasforotherstopursue.Hepointstomarriageasanexample,Inmarriage,wecreateasituationwherewepromiseourselvesnottokeepoptionsopen.Weclosedoorsandannouncetootherswe'vecloseddoors.11Sinceconductingthedoorexperiment,Dr.Arielysayshehasmadeaconsciousefforttolessenhisload.Heurgestherestofustoresignfromcommittees,pruneholidaycardlists,rethinkhobbiesandrememberthelessonsofdoorcloserslikeXiangYu.12Inotherwords,Dr.Arielyisencouragingustodiscardthosethingsthatseemtohaveoutwardmeritinfavorofthosethingsthatactuallyenrichourlives.Wearenaturallyprejudicedtobelievethatmoreisbetter,butDr.Ariely'sresearchprovidesadoseofrealitythatstronglysuggestsotherwise.13Whatpricedowepayfortryingtohavemoreandmoreinlife?Whatpleasureandsatisfactioncanbederivedfromfocusingourenergyandattentioninamoreconcentratedfashion?Surely,wewillhaveourrespectiveanswers.14Considertheseimportantquestions:Willwehavemorebyalwaysincreasingoptionsorwillwehavemorewithfewer,carefullychosenoptions?Whatdoorsshouldwecloseinordertoallowtherightwindowsofopportunityandhappinesstoopen?