Keeping Doors Open (The Irrational Compulsion to Preserve Options)
Keeping an option available has costs: attention, time, and sometimes money. Ariely describes experiments in which participants paid to preserve doors they did not need, illustrating how reluctance to lose an option can interfere with the main goal.
THE IDEA
Chapter 9: Keeping Doors Open
Why Options Distract Us from Our Main Objective
In 210 BC, a Chinese commander named Xiang Yu led his troops across the Yangtze River to attack the army of the Qin dynasty. Pausing on the banks for the night, his troops awakened to find their ships burning—Xiang Yu himself had set them on fire and ordered all cooking pots crushed. Without ships or pots, they had no choice but to fight to victory or perish. This had a tremendous focusing effect: they won nine consecutive battles. Xiang Yu’s story is remarkable because it is completely antithetical to normal human behavior. Normally, we cannot stand the idea of closing doors on our alternatives.
In today’s world, we work feverishly to keep all options open: buying expandable computer systems, unnecessary insurance, enrolling children in every activity, and purchasing luxury SUVs just in case we need off-road capability. But we give something up for those options—money, time, focus. We end up with more than we need and forget to spend enough time on what truly matters.
Examples:
- Joe, an MIT student, struggled to choose between architecture and computer science, trying to keep both doors open, but eventually graduated in CS.
- Dana, another student, couldn’t let go of a dying relationship for the possibility of rekindling it, risking a promising new relationship.
The Door Game Experiments
Jiwoong Shin (Yale) and the author designed a computer game where participants clicked on colored doors to earn money. In the first version, doors didn't close; participants easily settled on the best door. But when doors disappeared if unvisited for 12 clicks, participants frantically switched to keep doors open, earning 15% less than those who simply stayed in one room. Even when each click cost three cents, when payoffs were known, or when practice trials were given, participants still irrationally chased closing doors. Even a “reincarnating” door (that could be restored with one click) drew participants into preserving it. Ariely interprets this behavior as an aversion to losing an option.
Philosophical Insight
In 1941, Erich Fromm wrote Escape from Freedom, noting that modern democracy brings a dizzying abundance of opportunity, but the problem is living up to it. We try to taste everything, spreading ourselves too thin. This compulsion leads us to chase nearly dead opportunities or buy things on sale not because we need them but because they will be gone.
The Other Side: Failing to See Closing Doors
Some doors close too slowly to notice—like the childhood of our children slipping away while we work more. A friend’s marriage improved when they lived in different cities and met only on weekends, making the time limited and precious. A built-in alarm to warn us when important doors are closing would be helpful.
What Can We Do?
Compare the value of keeping an option with the cost of maintaining it. Small decisions, such as removing names from a holiday card list, may be easy; career and relationship decisions require more care. The famous line from Gone with the Wind—“Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn”—is memorable because it is the emphatic closing of a door. We should shut doors that waste our time and energy.
The Problem of Two Equally Attractive Options
When only two doors remain, choosing is still difficult. The story of Buridan’s ass (a donkey starving between two identical haystacks) illustrates indecision. Congress often gridlocks over similar alternatives, and a friend spent three months choosing between two nearly identical cameras, missing many photo opportunities. They failed to consider the cost of not deciding. Minor differences are not worth the cost of indecision.
The author himself fell victim to this when choosing between MIT and Stanford, spending weeks comparing, causing his research to suffer.
When to use it
When comparing job offers, set a decision deadline that accounts for both the value of more information and the cost of delaying.
Time management: Identify activities that drain time without providing value (e.g., committees, hobbies you don't enjoy) and drop them to focus on what matters.
Consumer decisions: When choosing between two similar products (e.g., cameras), set a time limit to decide, considering the cost of missed opportunities.
Relationships: If a relationship is clearly not working, end it decisively rather than stringing along both partners.
FROM THEORY TO EVERYDAY LIFE
In practice
Xiang Yu's Burning Ships
In 210 BC, commander Xiang Yu burned his own ships and crushed cooking pots to eliminate any option of retreat, forcing his troops to focus completely on victory. They won nine consecutive battles.
Joe's Major Dilemma
Joe, an MIT student, could not choose between architecture and computer science, wanting to keep both doors open. He eventually graduated in CS but found a blend in his first job designing nuclear subs.
Dana's Relationship
Dana was torn between a new boyfriend she clearly preferred and a dying previous relationship. She couldn't let go of the old one, risking losing the new one.
The Door Game Experiments
Participants in a computer game frantically clicked between doors that would disappear if unvisited, earning 15% less than those who stayed in one room. Even when costs were added or payoffs known, they still chased closing doors.
A MOMENT TO REFLECT
Put it to work.
Which options in a current decision are worth preserving? What does keeping each one open cost you?
Identify a small, low-stakes door you can close this week (e.g., unsubscribing from a service you don't use). How does it feel to let go?
When have you spent excessive time comparing two similar options? What did you lose by not deciding sooner?
References
- Escape from Freedom — Erich Fromm (1941)
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
Source texts
- Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely