Expression for a choice which isn't really one

What would be a nice short expression to describe a choice which isn't really one, in that all of its possible outcomes are ultimately equivalent despite being presented as different?

My first thought was "false choice", but this turns out to have a different meaning, and my next idea was "empty choice" which doesn't seem to exist. Does anyone know of such an expression?

Solution 1:

Moot.

Your choice is moot; whatever you pick, the outcome will be the same.

Solution 2:

Hobson's Choice

(Wikipedia)
A Hobson's choice is a free choice in which only one option is offered. As a person may refuse to take that option, the choice is therefore between taking the option or not; "take it or leave it". The phrase is said to originate with Thomas Hobson (1544–1631), a livery stable owner in Cambridge, England. To rotate the use of his horses, he offered customers the choice of either taking the horse in the stall nearest the door or taking none at all.

These days, they could be calling it the unchoice, a la unconference.

Solution 3:

The phrase “six of one, half a dozen of the other” is often used to describe such a choice. The idea is that if you take alternative A, you have a net benefit of six; while if you choose alternative B, it's half a dozen.

The choice may also be called a toss-up, which wiktionary defines as “A decision in which neither choice is clearly favorable or unfavorable, or for which the outcome does not matter”.

The colloquial phrase “It don't make no nevermind” might also be used of such a choice. Finally, note that the paradox of Buridan's ass is slightly more relevant (because it relates to a choice between two equally valuable outcomes) than is Morton's fork.

Solution 4:

If you must make a choice, but every alternative leads to the same outcome (that is, walking away is not an option), then it is Morton's Fork. It appears to be called a fork because you must choose one of the tines and you always end up at the handle.

There is also no-win situation, which may more familiar.

There's a list of similar situations under Catch-22 in Wikipedia (but this one isn't Catch 22).