Individual and collective improvement: Is increasing variety a good idea?

Two complementary views on (individual) choice and (individual) happiness. Both from www.TED.com

• Malcolm Gladwell on 'Spaghetti sauce', 
• Barry Schwartz, on 'The paradox of choice', 

Maybe reading Arrow (1950) might clarify the difficulty of dealing with collective modes of choice.

• 'A Difficulty in the Concept of Social Welfare'. The Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 58, No. 4. (Aug., 1950), pp. 328-346.