Imagination and Indecisiveness

One of my mental characteristics is my indecisiveness. I was out earlier and, feeling a sudden craving for a drink, I stopped by a 7-11 to purchase one. I couldn't decide between Dutch Lady's Full Cream Milk at $2.40, a can of milo at $1.75, a packet of milo at $1.30, some fruit juice of various brands in different flavours at various prices, a packet of Vitasoy at $1.10, or some Meiji's milk, so I stood by the fridges for at least 5 minutes, looking and contemplating. Eventually I settled on Meiji's low-fat strawberry-flavoured milk, and on my way home as I consumed the drink I thought of what is the main cause of my indecisiveness.

First we got to note that my indecisiveness is not restricted to the purchase of drinks. It extends quite generally to many aspects of my life. I am indecisive when I play chess; even more so in Weiqi. My first and only game of Weiqi took 4 hours and it wasn't even completed before the CCA time was up. I am indecisive in deciding whether to attend a particular outing. I am indecisive in choosing my exam questions; even more so in choosing which essay question to answer. I am indecisive in whether to go for a jog this day or the next. I am indecisive in whether to send out a particular email or not - this particular one can sometimes drag over days. And yes, though my wardrobe is relatively limited, I am indecisive in what to wear sometimes.

It will be helpful to contrast these cases of indecisiveness to when I am decisive. I am decisive in certain multiplayer computer games. I know exactly what to do in certain situations, and I follow through. I am decisive when the event is a novel and exciting one and where I don't get to meet new people. I am decisive when presented with an extremely challenging or intriguing option - sometimes I decidedly go for that, sometimes I decidedly go for a safer choice.

From these general observations I will venture to say the cause of my indecisiveness is a vivid imagination. Vivid imagination is what makes me indecisive. When I was deciding what drink to purchase earlier, my thoughts didn't drift off to other things. In fact, I was quite intently thinking about the drinks. I was visualizing myself drinking that creamy full cream milk. (And then I got put off by the price tag). And then I imagined the taste of the each and every other candidate. When I settled on one I immediately recalled the other sensation of what it is to drink the other drink. Hence my indecisiveness. The same, I think, can be said for the other cases of indecisiveness as well. Vivid imagination causes my indecisiveness by bringing alternative options to the same level of appeal as any others. This way, even initially unpalatable options can, through the process of vivid imagination, become serious candidates of choice.

(Incidentally, you will note that experiments have shown that giving too many choices to consumers will increase the chances of them not buying anything at all - I got that from Sheena Iyengar's book "The Art of Choosing").

Now, when I play computer games against other players, I don't act indecisively because being under pressure takes away the chance to vividly imagine options. In real life contexts where I act decisively, it is usually the case that one option stands out. But it is not that I don't have time to think about the other options. In fact, I do. It is simply that that one option captures my imagination the most. The others don't. At the same time, it is not that I will always pursue the option that captures my imagination the most. In fact, sometimes I decisively pick the option that least captures my imagination, or at least the one that is not as vivid as the most intriguing one. This is especially the case when past experience has shown that, in similar or relevant contexts where I single-mindedly pursued the most exciting option, I shot myself in the foot. (On the other hand, things do indeed get more complex when I imagine myself taking up the most vivid option and bringing benefits to myself, even though past experience suggests this isn't likely. In such a case I will become indecisive again)

I don't think it's particularly controversial to say one's imagination causes indecisiveness. It won't be the only cause, of course. After all, it is reasonable to think imperfect information causes indecisiveness as well. As far as I'm concerned, I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing either. It just makes me look weird when the cashier notices I have been in the same spot for 5 minutes, looking at the bottles of drinks intently.

Super 8

Watched Super 8. Found it so-so. There was technique in the show - there was a good flow of gentle and loud scenes, for example. But nothing really leapt out at me and made me go wow. As a friend put it: something you wouldn't regret spending money on, but in the end there wasn't any message to bring home.

One note though. Both the male and female leads are very good-looking. Scenes involving them felt sweet to me, though at times they grew to become cumbersome cringe-worthy cliches. The film in general had no lack of them, the worst for me being the part where the male actor spoke to the alien.

Hmm

Some males these days wear shoes that look pointy. I don't think it's because male feet are shaped in a way that favours wearing such shoes. I wear normal-shaped shoes for both formal and informal occasions. Over the course of military service, school camps, and other events that require one to strip one's footwear, it seems clear to me that my feet are normal. So most males should be able to wear normal-shaped shoes comfortably.

Two reasons come naturally. The first is social identity. Sometimes people want to dress in a certain way to feel they're part of the in-crowd. The in-crowd can consist of the vague image of a typical urban male, whom one may perceive as leading a nice life. Or it can consist of your colleagues. When your colleagues start wearing pointy shoes, and when they seem so chummy together, some part of you also desires to wear pointy shoes so you can blend in better. You want to feel part of a certain group. So you start dressing like them. (Note that people who intentionally buck the trend, or who claim they "don't care what they wear, as long as it's comfortable" are making their own kind of social identity statement. They are carving out their own social space and trying to distance themselves from certain groups)

The second reason is that they feel masculine wearing it. It's the same reason why males tend to wear watches with large faces, whereas females tend to go for watches with small faces. Why exactly does pointy shoes make you feel more masculine? For a simple reason: they make your feet look bigger. And we all know size has a large part to do with masculinity. I would think that wearing shoes that are broad in breadth works too, if it weren't for the high practical cost involved.

Sigh

The Straits Times today ran an article on cattle abuse of Australian cattle sent to Indonesian slaughterhouses. Examples of the cruel treatment captured include whipping a bull in the face, gouging its eyes and jumping on its back to get it to move, and cutting a bull's throat while it was tied down and fully awake. What struck me the most was that one cow was displaying signs of stress and discomfort as she watched her companions got killed. I personally couldn't see it from the video, but it wouldn't be unreasonable to believe the report.

A short version of the Straits Times article here. Better viewing of the videos can be found here.