Beach and Decision Making

I didn't even realize that I hadn't written anything all week, since the week was relatively uneventful. 

I did realized though, I've been to the beach more this summer so far than I've been to the beach all summer long in at least the past five years. Not to say I wasn't a beach person, but I never really had a huge desire to go there. I enjoy it once I'm there, but the idea of going to the beach never sparked much interest in my head.  This is kind of odd to me, as it alludes to an idea that people (or maybe it's just me) don't know what they want, or at least can't forsee what they would want. This idea is normally more common to relationships than trivial concepts like going to the beach, but the point still stands. Humans are often incapable of accurately judging what they want, and to me, it seems like that stems from an internal battle between both 'want vs. need' and trying to find a situation that is most beneficial.

The differentiation between our wants and needs is something that has plagued human decision-making forever. Do we need this? Is it crucial to our being? Or do we just want it because it will make our being easier or more pleasurable. 

Of course someone doesn't need to go to the beach under normal circumstances, but if they want to, they would most likely weigh the idea against other things they could possibly be doing. This is similar to the Social Exchange Theory of psychology. If nothing else seems like it would be the most beneficial (bring the most pleasure), then they would probably choose to go to the beach, unless their decision is influenced by some other outside factor such as a fear of deep water or a painful memory relating to the beach. Even if it is subconscious, people almost always make decisions by considering the benefits of each choice and weighing them against each other. 

I feel like people often want to choose multiple (or even all) of the outcomes, which leads to a more difficult choice. Leading back to my original point, I think that I personally never have much motivation to go to the beach because I don't forsee it being very much fun. However, I'm usually wrong in this notion, because I almost always have fun once I'm there, providing I go with friends. In this situation, my decision-making process was clouded by an inability to predict a situation that would bring me benefit. I feel like this is a common problem among others, and probably a reason why many people (including myself) are indecisive about many things.