I think I found the aspie difference in choice making

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So, it takes me a long time to make decisions and it is said that indecisive people are like that because they are insecure, they already know what they want but want to be sure so they don't regret it.
it doesn't really describe how I make decisions, and I had this insight based on the theories of rational choices (is it how it is called in English?). Nt's general way of making decision would be more like Herbert Simon's theory, that is, people don't actually consider all infos and options, but rather simplify it by choosing the satisfactory rather than the optimal. I would be more like the traditional theory, that is, I tend to consider (almost) all possible outcomes and pay-offs and processes so that I want to choose exactly the best option, maximizing the choices. That's why it takes that long. And it can be related to info processing too.
also when I have to have lunch at the campus I go to the same restaurant and order the same food. That would be considered repetitive behavior. For me it is because I already considered all options and I know this order is the optimal for me so I always ask this one. Others would have a range of satisfactory options they can choose from, rather than one, the optimal.
I wanted to know to what extent those things apply to other aspies too. What do you think?

I do that a lot when I make decisions. When I do something like grocery shopping sometimes I have to think about what I want to get for a while. Especially if I see something that's on sale because I compare the quality, the price and the amount to what I usually get at the store to try to figure out what would be the best choice.

Everyone resists making choices/decisions until they have enough information.
Indecision is always about a lack of information. If you're flexible on the definition of "information."

Some people look for facts.
Some people need to know how stylish it is.
Some people need to know if everybody else has one, or vice-versa.
How bad is it going to hurt and should I get it over with now.
Some people need to know if it will match their shoes.

That definitely applies to me.

I think I consider drastically more options when making a decision compared to people I know.

However, sometimes, it doesn't just take longer--it shuts me down.


I think this idea can be extended into many domains of life to explain all sorts of things.

Thanks for sharing.

Yaaaay
exactly, I would say I am overanalytic and it sometimes takes way too long to make my decisions. And when I am pressured to make it faster or if there are many many options I shutdown too.

Sometimes I just don't know which choice I want to make, especially if they all look appealing (ie choosing a degree...too many potentially fascinating subjects to choose from, somewhat equal intellectual ability across the board making picking just one a bit difficult. I wanted to do them all, excluding one or two!).

Too many choices or options available but not enough hours or time in the day. Such as which one of my interests to pursue. My brain is curious about everything but I like intensive sessions rather than spending a few minutes on things here and there. Ergo I have to pick my poison so to speak. Sometimes I am so undecided over which hobby I want to pick away at that I end up doing nothing at all instead. Another example would be self employment. I have several ideas in mind but cannot choose between them or which one I actually want to pursue, if I pursue any at all. I don't have time and money to launch all of them. Some involve selling a product, some involve selling a skill (which I still need to learn but I am sure I can, I am usually good at learning things) and some involve a bit of both.

I may well end up pursuing none of them at this rate if my brain doesn't pick one to focus on soon.

Sometimes it is about finding the optimal way of doing something.

Sometimes I have no idea, my brain is just in indecisive mode for some reason and it just won't tell me. It likes to tease me. It likes to torment me in other ways too, like this morning for example when it left me puzzling over the screen name for Archibald Leech (his birth name). I had to google it in the end. I could remember Archibald Leech but not Cary Grant? Go figure.

Executive Dysfunction

yes I find it difficult to make the smallest of decisions, and often get pressured to make them faster.

Shopping also takes me longer, because i constantly compare things, to make sure that I am getting 'value' for money.

xx

some things i am extremely indecisive about because i hate making the wrong choice, wasting money, wasting time, etc. but other times i'm impulsive and i do things without thinking them out. ideas just pop into my head and it's completely random whether i do them or not.

i think it's usually with the expensive things/items that i tend to over analyze and over think about, although it's not like i haven't bought expensive things on impulse before. sometimes the desire for the object exceeds my need to rationalize for it or determine if it is what i want or not. my finances as result are a total mess..

regret is pretty inconsistent with me too, some impulse actions i deeply regret, others i simply don't feel regret about them at all, even if the result was pretty bad... like the time i got arrested for that impulsive action. it was stupid but i don't really regret it and chances are i'll probably do it again.

Two of the things that complicate menu decisions for me are:

1) I try to do a complete review of how all the things I order will taste, how I'll feel while eating them and afterward, if that's what I'm really wanting, if I think I'll still want something else afterward, on and on. Going through all of this seems to me to be more of a detailed analysis of a decision than those it might be said have a more efficient means of making a decision than I do (I've been told that I analyze menus, and once was asked by someone what I thought she should get since I had analyzed the menu)

and

2) I know from past experience that I forget to make custom order requests that I should have thought of before I ordered. Like I'll order a salad, but forget to ask for the dressing on the side b/c they always drench the salad, which I don't like, or I'll order a sandwich and forget that mayonnaise is a default spread for certain sandwiches and I despise mayo because it is evil, and so I have to review a list of things that might happen to my food that I don't want.

If I had all the normal possibilities written out, it would look like a flowchart, and probably wouldn't be more than 20-25 options, but who wants to sit there navigating a flowchart by candlelight, right? So I don't have a set list, and it's kind of hit or miss as to whether I'll remember what I need to consider, so I'll look at the items I want and try to remember if there's anything I need to tell the chef to do or not do with my food. And I'll look for what I can order with asking the fewest number of questions about how its prepared, what's in it, etc. because nice as the waitstaff may be, I've found I can quickly exhaust both their knowledge of the food as well as their patience. Especially since it's often late because we took so long to decide which restaurant to go to:)

So while it may look to someone else that I'm going for the optimal choice, I'm really just looking for something acceptable, but my process for finding something acceptable isn't as streamlined or simplified as maybe someone who is ok with some kind of weird sauce being poured over their grilled salmon - makes me wonder about how this plays into sensory issues that others don't deal with, but I'll leave it at that.

Anyone use a model like the one I use?

1) If it's worked before, do it again. This includes clothing, food, grooming, word choice. So my life sticks to a pretty clear routine.

2) If I need to make a decision on something new, then I ask my NT friends for their opinions, because I usually miss some variable if I try to figure it out on my own. Anyway, once I do that, I can make a decision.

3) If I need to make a BIG life-altering decision, then I go round and round, and usually only make the right decision if I go with the gut feeling I had at the very start of the process. (You know, the whole "Aspie intuition" thing.)

If it is something I will need to purchase on a continues basis I will spend a great deal of time deciding what is the best product to buy. I also make the same choices with food. The problem comes into play when my product or food has been discontinued. I will spend days trying to find out if there is another store that sells what I want. If I find it at a different store I will buy it there. If it is discontinued by the manufacture this is a bad, bad thing. I now must spend hours and hours analyzing everything. If it is body wash I will compare: Smell, Color, Price, Ounces. I will smell every one on the shelf. Open up each and everyone to look at the color and get a good sniff of it. I reach a point were they all smell the same and I have to come back another day to start all over again. One time it took almost a week to find a different body wash.