Scott Adams – Choosing is Easy When Choices are Clear
I happen to be a fan of Scott Adams. Through his creation, Dilbert, he is able to encapsulate observations into short panels. Having created a cartoon of my own, I know the work that goes into shortening ideas about human relationships. As Blaise Pascal famously said, “I am sorry to have written such a long letter but I did not have time to write a short one.” It takes time.
He also has his own blog where he shares thoughts and ideas. For the most part, these run in philosophical and economic waters. To give you an idea what I mean, check out this post where he comments on a survey he conducted of economists and their political beliefs. In it, he makes an important observation about when people make knee-jerk reactions and when they make wise decisions, “Everything we know about human nature tells us that people are usually rational when the choices are relatively simple and the data is known.”
I don’t disagree with that statement, but I know some of you are scratching your heads. This guy that makes comics for a living, right?? Well he could have said, “Choosing is easy when choices are clear.”
Simple is hard
Shortening ideas without loosing their essence is hard work. But that’s what Clarifinancial does everyday.
All the information at Clarifinancial has been available before, but there are a lot of complex ideas going on and deep volumes of information. The simple interface makes you think shoppers aren’t conducting their own closed, multi-dimensional, reverse auctions among multiple insurance companies, each with its own underwriting criteria, product choices, and complex algorithms to determine your quote. Looks are deceiving. In fact, that’s exactly what insurance shoppers are doing.
Simple can be powerful
Clarifinancial levels informational advantages, protects anonymity, and tends to lower search costs and transaction costs while raising quality. When things are simple on the surface but powerful underneath, some would say it is elegant. All I know is it is pretty amazing.
Fortunately, with the hard work of Clarifinancial, you don’t have to know what any of that economist language means to take advantage of it. Choosing really is easy when choices are clear. Welcome. You belong here.



