There is such a thing as information overload. There is just so much information out there now that we can't cope with it or fully absorb it, or even decide which bits of it we want to keep in our minds, or which to discard. There is a similar thing going on with the range of choices we have as consumers. There is so much stuff out there, so much to choose from, that, according to some experts, this situation is making us miserable Most of us believe that the more we have to choose from the better, yet apparently our dissatisfaction with this wealth of choice, or rather the anxiety it produces, is part of a larger trend. It seems that, as society grows more affluent and people become freer to do what they want, the unhappier they become.