Not too long ago, a friend of mine showed me this app he had just downloaded and was excited about using. It was a choice-making application on his phone that was built to take stress off of an individual in making decisions throughout the day. I only saw him use it the one time, and am not sure if the app gained any popularity, but it was used to help you decide on what you wanted to eat or where you wanted to go, and maybe some other small decisions as well. My memory on the actual mechanics of it is foggy, but when my friend demoed it to me, there were three options of fast food joints on the screen, and when he shook it, two of the options disappeared in an animation and left him with just one. I’m not sure if he punched in the initial three options, or they were generated by the app through some sort of profile or filter, but either way I thought it was wacky.

Does that seem enticing to use? Is that similar to asking for recommendations on social media? I guess I’m a little confused on why someone would ever want their decisions made for them. Or do others not look at it that way? Like, the decision has ownership to it. Is it a good thing to get some help with decisions? Does the average person really need help? So much help, that it would be beneficial to an individual’s life to have software like this?

I’m not sure if many other creatives feel the way I do, but I want to make every decision on my own. Every single decision: what my work is made out of, what it signifies, when it’s finished, who it’s for, etc. It’s probably why I have issues collaborating with others. I definitely want to have less decisions to make in my life, but I rid of them by simplifying, like I choose to wear just a shirt and jeans and the same shoes everyday, and shaved my head so I don’t have to decide how I would like to style my hair(also, I’m balding). Maybe I feel like it’s a sense of control over me, and I don’t want that to be in anyone else’s hands if I can help it. I would never want to make someone else’s decisions for them either, but I don’t have kids, so maybe there is something I’m missing there.

I hope that art doesn’t take me down a path where I’ll have too many things making my decisions for me. Or even worse, a path where I’ll need the help with that. I feel like that is the only thing that makes us individuals: our choices. Thanks for reading.

Rizaldy Celi Jr.

American Artist

Oakland, CA

@rizaldy.jr