The Choice Effect explores the radically different ways that today’s twenty- and thirty-somethings approach life and love in this generation. We argue that having too many choices impacts our desires and leads us to sidestep traditional time lines. At the heart of our theory is a term we coined – “choister” – that best describes our bizarre little generation.

What is a Choister?

A Choister is inundated by choices and has a hearty belief that the world is his or her oyster. We love choices, but hate choosing. (Just a tad problematic, no?)

To give you a clear picture, we considered drawing something. But then we realized that we can’t draw, and a poorly conceived oyster-man comic would only complicate some-thing very simple:

choice + oyster = choister

Or, more formally: A choister is a person who is inundated with choices and thinks the world is his or her oyster. We, as a generation, got that last part from our parents and public service ads, which taught us to believe we could be anything we put our minds to. We, as authors, got that last part from Shakespeare, who introduced the winning “world is my oyster” phrase in The Merry Wives of Windsor in 1600. And if that’s not enough of an academic diversion, the word “choice” is derived from the Old French word “chois,” making our “choister” with an “s” inadvertently brilliant.

You could overanalyze Shakespeare’s intended meaning, or the exact logic of that metaphor (do I have to shuck it myself?), but generally speaking, it’s come to represent the belief that the world is yours for the taking.

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