It would seem that man is such a complex being, with intelligence, intelligence, social. In practice, if you dig a little deeper, it turns out a rather obvious thing for anyone who recognizes evolution: the oldest mechanisms are the basis for the whole variety of feelings, emotions and sensations that we experience every second now, in the modern developed world.
Take the same consumption. Excessive, unreasonable consumption imposed by the modern economy. We will talk about how to deceive the desire to own things, reducing the negative effect for both the wallet and the psyche as much as possible.
So, there are two theses:
Everything we possess loses value for us over time. This is inherent in our nature and is the basis for fundamental issues related to our behavior.
Striving for the new and the best leads to the search for diversity. This works even if the relationship with a person is replaced by an attitude to things. Just as we get used to and gradually lose passion for a partner, we lose passion for things. Even if you have the best things, they are boring. In search of a dose of the hormone of happiness, we are looking for new positive feelings, and getting something new just gives what we are looking for. Here we have all the variety of goods at our service. Moreover, following the same principle, it is the novelty of the thing that comes first.
That is, a diamond ring presented will cause short-term increased joy due to the size of the stone, and a diamond ring slightly smaller will cause slightly less short-term joy. However, in the long term, both the one and the other ring will cause exactly the same sensations. More precisely, their absence — the ring is already familiar to you, you wear it and do not notice.
The decisive thing is not the price, but the novelty of the thing. Use this to benefit your wallet.
The second thesis follows from the difference in our perception of material objects and something immaterial. It's about a new experience, new sensations. This topic is much more interesting, because it implies the same charming sensations as when unpacking your new iPhone, but only without the need to buy another pointless toy.
The thing is static in its essence, and it is near you, constantly. She will inevitably get bored. The joy of possession is slowly fading away — the thing is already familiar to you.
A unique single new experience is something that gives you an incredible feeling once. The first parachute jump will feel much stronger than riding a Ferrari. Calculate how many new things you can experience for the amount you could spend on buying a Ferrari. And now translate it according to some internal course of your own into units of happiness. Concerts of all your favorite bands, a trip around the world — there are dozens and hundreds of ways to get a new unique experience, and this experience will give a frenzied dose of happiness at the moment of receipt, as well as every time you access it through memory. The experience does not require space in the closet, does not break, it does not need to be serviced, vacuumed and cleaned. And it doesn't seem to be necessary to pay for the rental of the storage of experience in the head yet either.
