FADE IN.
Act 1
INT - STUDY - DAY
Phone in hand, PETER looks out of the window.
PETER (V.O.): What should I write about in my daily screenplay today?
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I've so many message choices that I want to share.
Peter checks his Quora App.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Here's a question I want to answer: What do you want people to know about you but can't usually share.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.): Since 1970s, I've been examining my life consistently to make it more worth living. Learning to live has been my choice.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But few people live life like the way I do, so I can't usually share it, although their lifestyle choices may also be simple.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): In the 1970s, when I studied Philosophy all by myself, I longed to take the degree exams as I could share my thoughts with the examiners. I've no other choice.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Since there's now this answer request, probing into my inner self, I might as well talk about my choice - for my own psychological therapy.
Act 2
INT. STUDY - CONTINUOUS
Peter reads the content of his Quora answers on his phone screen.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The question is what factors do I choose in assessing my needs?
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): My needs are my patterns of behaviour that make me feel self-sufficient, safe and comfortable.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): So they're my must-haves - survival, safety and quality of life. I don't need my favourite solutions as they're my wants only.
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): It reminds me that satisfying my needs with simple choices, rather than my wants of many choices, is good enough.
Peter turns to another of his answers. We see the question on screen: What's on your bucket list this year during the pandemic?
PETER (V.O) (Cont'd): Well, the pandemic has been suspending my monthly travel hobby since March this year. My choices have become limited.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): For the remainder of Sept, I've to settle a complicated domain name dispute.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): For Oct...I've no plan. Last year, I visited my Canadian friend and his family in Victoria. I planned the trip and it happened.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): For Nov? Last year, I visited my elder daughter in Japan. Would the travel restrictions be relaxed and I could pay her a visit in Nov?
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): For Dec? If I couldn't travel in Nov, perhaps my family could travel in Dec. My family had a great time, motoring in Northern Honshu last Dec.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): Last Dec, I had to make a choice between accepting or declining work assignments as the schedules clashed with my family travel itinerary. I made the right choice.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): Oh, this is my bucket list? Am I doomed to make choices?
Peter puts his hand in cheek.
Act 3
INT. STUDY - CONTINUOUS
Peter checks his phone screen again.
PETER (V.O.) : Here's an answer request from an old man: Was life better before smartphones?
Staring at this phone screen.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It's a leading question. With smartphones, it 's easier to get connected, document stuff and mine information.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): But it has been observed that the more choices there're, the less satisfied we become.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I think that actually depends on a person's perceived needs and wants.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): For a person who prefers self-sufficiency and disengagement, life in the smartphone era might not be good.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): But the ultimate choice is still with us. If one perceives the many choices as one's wants only, one needs not use them. Lifestyles need not be the same.
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): The old man, like me, might want people to know how he feels about the impact of smartphones and would like to have some support.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): This time, I provide him the psychological therapy.
Peter types on his phone.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): Okay, let me write also about the paradox of choice in my daily screenplay.
Peter opens his laptop.
FADE OUT.
THE END
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