Decision Brownouts

The essay argues that today's hardest decisions often trigger a "decision brownout," a state where people freeze because a slow, chronic stress response gives them no clear threat to fight or flee and no energy to choose a new direction. Its author describes the symptoms as procrastination, clutter, and conserving energy by taking the path of least resistance. The author argues that getting out of a brownout requires energy more than direction, since making non-default choices is what unlocks energy. The essay also suggests that many people in such states are wrongly pathologized, and it applies the idea to the 2024 presidential choice, which it describes as de-energizing.