Fourteenth century
Two identical bales, no reason to prefer either, and the donkey starves. The same shape as failing to pick a lunch place.
A starving donkey, two identical bales at equal distance. No reason to go either way, so it does not, and it dies.
The point was a jab at acting on reason alone: push "no movement without a reason" far enough and this is where it lands.
Buridan himself probably never wrote it. A parable invented to mock a position, with his name stuck to it.
The hard case is not two bad options — you can just cut the worse one.
What actually stops you is two options you cannot rank. And in that case either choice comes out about the same. So the correct move is not "think harder" but "admit the gap is negligible and decide now."
Usually the deliberation is the largest cost on the table.
Three ways. Add one tiebreaker (cheaper, closer, not yet tried). Ask if it is reversible — if yes, decide instantly. Outsource it to a coin, a draw, a wheel.
The last looks like dodging, and when the options really are equal it is the most rational move available. Better still: mid-flip you usually notice you are hoping for heads. That is your actual answer.
Forty minutes on the browse screen
Forty minutes of browsing and you rewatch the usual thing. Nothing on the list is bad, which is precisely why it never resolves.
"Top three that look interesting, then pick" ends it.
Flip a coin and watch yourself
The moment it is in the air, which side you are hoping for tells you what you wanted. Less a decision tool than a way to make yourself talk.
Two identical appliances
Three hours of comparison with no clear winner means the difference does not reach your life. The three hours are the only measurable loss.
If you take one thing
"I cannot decide" is another way of saying "there is no difference." Read it as a signal to choose, not a signal to research.
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