Nobody seems happy with the state of their air. We buy gadgets that reduce the air’s humidity, purify it, diffuse essential oils into it, and increase its humidity.
Are we asking too much of our air? And by caring about it so much, are we setting ourselves up for greater dissatisfaction? How can we solve problems like dry air without becoming obsessed with them like the sad sacks on Slickdeals forum threads about humidifiers? How much, in short, is the correct level of caring?
They say you should invest in a quality mattress because you spend a third of your life sleeping there, so by extension it makes sense that you should invest in your air since you spend even more time breathing it. But in both cases, it seems like the more you try to find a solution that completely satisfies you, the more likely you are to become dissatisfied. If you spend a year researching the perfect mattress and spend thousands of dollars to get it, you’ll be much more aware of any problems that arise from it than if you never bothered to care. “It’s hotter than I expected,” you might say, “and doesn’t have the firmness I was hoping for.” Whereas if you just bought a mattress without caring too much, you’d likely consider it “just fine.”
This problem arises in many areas. Think of your friend from Texas who “knows good barbecue” and is therefore dissatisfied by all barbecue they eat outside of Texas. Wouldn’t they be better off and enjoy life more overall if they weren’t so particular about their brisket?
Someone should come up with a term for this phenomenon. They probably already have, we’re just too lazy to research it. So we’ll call it the “Paradox Of Optimization” and define it as, “The tendency for dissatisfaction with a problem to increase with investments made to address it.” Or, more simply, “The way you get more particular about something the more you care about it.”
Don’t get us wrong, your home air is likely to get drier with the coming winter, and this humidifier will help. We’re not saying you shouldn’t try to solve your problems. You just shouldn’t become obsessed with them to the point where you’re constantly dissatisfied with sub-optimal conditions. You shouldn’t check the humidity in your bedroom several times a day and, if it’s not ideal, mutter under your breath until your spouse says, “What’s wrong?” and you say, “Oh nothing, just the humidity again,” and they say, “Mm.”
In short: Be chill.
Buy this humidifier, set it to automatic mode, and then stop worrying about the state of your air. So long as it fills your lungs with oxygen, there’s more right with it than wrong with it.
Now, should we re-read this writeup and edit it for clarity? Nah … it’s good enough. Would hate to fall into the Paradox Of Optimization.
