In "The Paradox of Choice," Barry Schwartz discusses how people's preferences regarding decision-making can often differ from their actual behaviors. He highlights research by Gawande indicating that while a significant majority of individuals claim they would want to make their own treatment choices if diagnosed with cancer, the reality is quite different when faced with such a situation.

In fact, Gawande found that only a small fraction—12 percent—of cancer patients actually desire to make their treatment decisions themselves, contradicting the 65 percent who claim they want to do so in surveys. This discrepancy illustrates a tendency among patients to prefer others to guide their decisions during stressful times, suggesting that autonomy may not always be as appealing in practice as it is in theory.