Are you faced with a tough choice? Chances are the hard choice is something big and momentous for you. Hard choices seem to be occasions for agonizing but philosopher Ruth Chang thinks we have misunderstood hard choices and the role they play in our lives.
What makes a choice hard is the way the alternatives relate. In an easy choice, one alternative is better than the other. In a hard choice, neither is better than the other overall.
Many of us take the safest option in hard choices. It’s a mistake to think that, in hard choices, one alternative really is better than the other. Even taking two alternatives side-by-side with full information can still be a hard choice. Hard choices are hard because there is no best option.
Chang likes to say that alternatives are “on par.” When alternatives are in the same league of value, that’s when the choice is hard. When we choose between options that are on par, we can put ourselves behind an option. Here’s where I stand. Here’s who I am. This kind of response to a hard choice is a rational response, not dictated by reasons given to us, but supported by reasons created by us.
So when faced with hard choices, we shouldn’t be trying to figure out which alternative is better. There is no best alternative. Instead, look for reasons inside: Who am I to be?
You can see Chang’s full TED Talk on how to make hard choices here.