Just make the decision

Damn, damn, damn. My PKMS¹ seems to have let me down again. I wanted to retrieve a piece I read recently — within the past 6 weeks? — and was certain I had noted, to the effect that the author had been advised that for any really difficult choice or decision, it makes no difference what you choose, because the attractions of each are clearly almost equal and therefor not worth trying to distinguish. I’m sure it was someone trying to decide what to do after graduate school, but no search I could think of would find it.

I wanted to find it to link it to a piece I've just read by at The Online Photographer. Mike goes deeeep into the history and meaning of Goldilocks and the Three Bears in order to come up with a very similar conclusion:

My observation over the years is that the closer two competing products are to each other, the greater the likelihood that shoppers will bear down on the Goldilocks aspect of shopping, and the more effort they will expend on determining “which is best.” But logically, what should happen is the opposite: the closer two competing products are to each other, the less it matters which one you choose. Honda or Toyota is like Coke or Pepsi. Who cares? Eenie-meenie-miney-mo and hit the road.

A great ongoing debate of the ’nineties and the ’aughts among hobbyists was, “should I get a Nikon or a Canon?” The upshot was a river of endless debate. My smarty-pants answer to the question at the time was “yes.” That is, get a camera and get on with it. Nobody cares what you shoot with. Suit yourself.

If two things are almost equal, either one will do. You can always justify your coin-flip to yourself later.