Sometimes, Thinking Too Much Keeps Us from Moving (Bite-size Article)

Introduction There is an Aesop’s fable called The Fox and the Cat . To briefly summarize the story: a fox who boasts about knowing many ways to escape meets a cat who knows only one—climbing a tree. The fox proudly shows off his wide range of knowledge, while the cat offers no argument and simply says that he has only that single option. When hunting dogs suddenly approach, the situation changes at once. Faced with so many possible choices in his head, the fox cannot decide which one to take. While he hesitates, he is caught. The cat, on the other hand, immediately climbs a tree and escapes safely. What this story depicts is not that the fox was foolish, nor that the cat was exceptionally clever. Rather, it highlights a contrast between knowing many possible options and being able to act in a real situation. In moments of danger or under time pressure, having too many choices can itself make decision-making difficult. This fable seems to capture such a situation in a very compact form.