"The Diderot Effect": Why do we want things that we don't need? Disposable and plastic tableware.
The famous French philosopher Denis Diderot lived almost his entire life in poverty, but the turning point came in 1765.
By that time, Diderot was 52 years old and his daughter was going to get married, but her father did not have the funds for a dowry. Despite his lack of wealth, Diderot's name was widely known as he was the co-founder and author of the monumental work called the Encyclopedie, one of the most comprehensive encyclopedias of its time.
When Catherine the Great, Empress of the Russian Empire, learned of Diderot's financial difficulties, she offered to sell her his signature library for £1,000, equivalent to approximately $50,000 today.
This successful deal largely saved Diderot from shame. He could afford a lot and soon acquired a new scarlet robe (ceremonial outerwear or the robe of monarchs or kings is purple or scarlet). From that moment the problems began.
Diderot effect
Diderot's outfit was incredibly beautiful. So handsome that everything else in his clothes and home decoration looked ridiculous and sloppy, and this made Diderot despondent. He saw the only way out of this situation was to buy new things.
First he replaced his old carpet with a new one from Damascus. He decorated his home with sculptures and a beautiful kitchen table, bought a new mirror and a leather chair.
Now the craving for such spontaneous purchases is called the Diderot effect. This effect describes a situation when the purchase of a new thing creates a so-called consumption spiral, that is, it leads to the purchase of other new things. As a result, we continue to buy things we don't really need.
Portrait of Denis Diderot. Artist - Louis Michel (Louis-Michel), 1767. The painting shows Diderot in clothing very similar to the one whose purchase once provoked the Diderot effect.
Why do we crave things that we don't need?
The Diderot effect should not be underestimated: unfortunately, we are all prone to making unfounded and thoughtless purchases. You can buy a new car and, in addition to it, buy a bunch of different gadgets and equipment: a tire pressure sensor, a car charger for mobile phone, an extra umbrella for the car, a first aid kit, a penknife, a flashlight, emergency blankets and even some kind of knife for cutting seat belts.
You can find a similar pattern of behavior in other areas of life:
- You buy a new dress and be sure to buy new shoes and earrings to go with it.
- You buy a gym membership and consider it obligatory to buy new sportswear.
- You buy a new sofa and wonder: maybe it’s worth updating other elements of your interior?
This is human nature: we do not simplify something, we do not reduce it to a minimum, but on the contrary, we enrich, increase, develop.
How to control the Diderot effect?
The Diderot effect teaches us to concentrate on what is most important. There are too many things around us, and our resources are limited, so it is useful to be able to separate the important from the unimportant. How to do this? You can try the following:
1. Avoid triggers. Almost every habit is activated by some kind of trigger. One of quick ways reduce the power of the Diderot effect - avoid triggers that contribute to its appearance. Unsubscribe from online store newsletters. Call the retail stores that send you product catalogs and unsubscribe. Meet friends at the park, not the mall. Block your access to your favorite online stores.
2. Choose those products that go well with existing items. If you adhere to this principle, then when buying a new dress or sofa, you will not be tempted to buy anything in addition to it. Buying electronics? Make sure that you already have all the adapters available to connect your equipment.
3. Set limits. Limit yourself in purchases. Set a specific amount that you will not spend more than, and keep your word.
4. Bought one, gave one away. Every time you buy something new, give yours away old thing. Have you bought a new TV? Give someone an old one. Don't move it to another room, just give it to someone free of charge. The idea is to avoid things from piling up in your home. Leave next to you only what brings you joy and happiness.
5. Go a month without shopping. Next month, do not allow yourself even the most insignificant purchase. Instead of buying a new lawn mower, borrow one from your neighbor. The more we limit ourselves, the more conscious our behavior becomes.
6. Don't be led by your desires. Of course, no one will ever achieve this level of awareness. We always want something. We always strive to acquire something that will be better than the previous one. But such a line of behavior will only lead you to permanent frustration: you bought a new car, but after some time you wanted another, more expensive one, and so on. Having not received satisfaction from one, you are already drawn to another. Learn to enjoy what you already have.
The famous French philosopher Denis Diderot lived most of his life in poverty, but everything changed in 1765. Diderot was 52 years old when his daughter decided to get married. But there was one problem - she had no dowry. Diderot did not have wealth, but his name was widely known, since he was the co-founder and author of one of the most comprehensive encyclopedias of the time. When Catherine II, Empress of All Russia, learned of Diderot's financial problems, she offered him to sell her his library for 1,000 pounds sterling (approximately $50,000 at today's exchange rate). Now Diderot had money. Immediately after the transaction was completed, Diderot bought himself a new bright red robe, and from that moment everything went wrong.
Diderot effect
Diderot's bright red robe was very beautiful and stood out from the rest of his belongings. According to the philosopher, with its appearance between other things, “coordination, unity and beauty disappeared.” Diderot soon had a desire to purchase several new clothes that would harmonize with the beauty of his bright red robe.
He replaced the old carpet with a new one from Damascus, bought a table and decorated his house with magnificent sculptures. He bought a mirror, which he hung above the fireplace, and a leather chair.
This kind of purchase has become known as the Diderot effect, according to which the purchase of new things often creates a spiral of consumption - the desire to have more and more new things. As a result, we buy things that our old selves did not need in order to feel happy or satisfied.
Why do we want to have things we don't need?
Like many other people, you most likely also became a victim of the Diderot effect. Perhaps you bought a new car, and with it a bunch of different gadgets: a tire pressure monitor, a car battery charger, an umbrella, a first aid kit, a pocket knife, a flashlight, a blanket and even a tool for cutting a seat belt...
You can see similar patterns of behavior in many other areas of life:
You bought a new dress and now you need matching earrings and shoes.
- You decided to take up CrossFit, purchased a membership and realized that you need foam rollers, knee pads, wrist straps, protein, etc.
- You bought your daughter a doll, after which you discovered that she needs additional clothes and accessories.
- You bought a new sofa and suddenly realized that it does not fit the interior of your room.
Life has a natural tendency to become fulfilling. We are rarely inclined to minimize, simplify, ignore and reduce. We naturally strive to accumulate, multiply, develop and improve.
Mastering the Diderot effect
The Diderot effect tells us that we should focus on the things that really matter.
Reduce influence external factors. To reduce the influence of the Diderot effect, you must, first of all, avoid the influence of external factors that provoke the emergence of a habit. Unsubscribe from commercial mailings. Stop receiving catalogs. Meet friends at the park, not the mall. Block your favorite online stores.
Buy things that fit your current value system. This way you won't have to start from scratch every time you want to buy something. If you buy clothes, match them to your current wardrobe. The same goes for technology, electronics and other things.
Set spending limits on yourself. Keep track of how much money you spend and on what. Set limits.
We bought a new one and got rid of the old one. Have you purchased a new TV? Sell or give the old one to someone rather than moving it to another room. Don't let the amount of stuff in your home keep growing. Surround yourself only with what brings you joy and happiness.
Don't buy anything new for a month. The more we limit ourselves, the more creative and resourceful we become.
Release what you want. The time when you stop wanting something will never come. Realize that desires are just an option produced by the brain, and not an order that you must follow.
How to overcome the consumption trend
Consuming more, not less, is our natural desire. With this in mind, I believe that taking steps to reduce the flow of consumption will make our lives better. The goal is to fill it with the optimal amount of things.
Diderot said: “Let my example serve as a lesson to you. Poverty has its freedoms; wealth has its obstacles.”
James Clear
American blogger, entrepreneur and athlete who writes about behavioral psychology, habit formation and self-improvement.
Diderot effect
The famous French philosopher and writer Denis Diderot spent most of his life in poverty, but everything changed dramatically when he was 52 years old. His daughter was getting married, and Diderot could not give her a dowry. Catherine II became aware of this. The Empress bought the library from Diderot and began paying him a salary for managing this collection of books. Soon after this, Diderot got a new robe. This is where everything went wrong.
The new robe was expensive and beautiful. So beautiful that the entire furnishings of Diderot’s home, in comparison, began to seem poor and wretched. The philosopher had to buy new things. He replaced the old carpet, furniture, pictures and mirrors.
The essence of the Diderot effect is that when we acquire something new, we launch a whole consumption process. And as a result, we buy things that previously did not seem necessary to us at all for our happiness.
Why do we want things we don't need?
This is completely natural. We always strive to accumulate, add, improve and expand. And we rarely try to simplify, reduce or eliminate anything.
Examples can be given endlessly:
- You bought a new dress and now you need shoes to match it.
- You bought a gym membership and are now spending on massage rollers, knee pads and special meals.
- You bought a new sofa, and you began to feel like you need to replace all the other furniture.
How to deal with it
Here are some tips to help you overcome the craving for unnecessary purchases.
Avoid temptations
Every habit has its own trigger - a signal that leads to action. Avoid triggers that make you want to buy. Unsubscribe from online stores' mailing lists. Meet friends at the park, not the mall. Block your favorite online store sites using the Freedom app.
Buy things based on what you already have
Choose items that will go with what you already have in your wardrobe. Buy new equipment so that it is compatible with what you have at home. Then you won’t have to spend money on new chargers, adapters and cables.
Buy one thing, give another
Have you bought a new TV? Give the old one to someone rather than moving it to another room. Don't let things pile up.
Don't buy anything new for at least a month
Set a goal to limit your purchases. Don't buy a new lawnmower, borrow one from your neighbors. If you need clothes, go to a thrift store rather than a regular one.
Change the way you shop
We will never completely get rid of the desire to buy things; there will always be something newer and better. Having bought an expensive car, we begin to dream of a private jet. You can calm down only by realizing that the desire to buy is just one of possible options behavior, and not an order that must be followed unquestioningly.
Conclusions
If we learn to reduce the continuous flow, our lives will change for the better. This does not mean that it is necessary to strive for complete asceticism. The main thing is that the number of things in your life is optimal.
Finally, let us remember the words of Diderot.
Let my example be science for you. Poverty has its liberties, wealth has its restrictions.
Denis Diderot
I'm rearranging things in the basement and find a large can of water-based paint. What is she doing here, I wonder. Oh, what's left from the renovation. I'll throw it away. Since there have been God knows how many repairs in my life, now I know very well that all these cans of paint on which the color number has long been erased, all these paint rollers and several ceramic tiles, water-based emulsions and putties just need to be thrown away.
But for some reason they used to live with me for years on distant shelves, turning into fossils under their covers. For some reason, the heavy tile took up space, and it took labor and, possibly, a prolapse of the kidney to move it. These things seemed necessary to me. It seemed that they would come in handy someday. But "someday" never comes. Has it happened to you?
In our country, people - especially those who live almost in barracks - love to seize public land on their own. Therefore, citizens built front gardens and planted vegetable gardens in public areas. They also installed shells and “beautiful” rusty garages.
Recently, an announcement appeared on all these architectural structures: they say, citizens, demolish all this in an amicable way, because improvement is coming. You are Moscow after all. And very slowly, one by one, reluctantly, the garage owners began to break them.
Where the iron sheds stood, square voids formed, and a mountain of garbage remained under each former garage. Because those who love to seize the land themselves hate to clean up trash after themselves.
Our people hate throwing away and do not understand that there is excess and unnecessary
And what do you think makes up most of these piles? That's right, petrified bags of sand concrete and many-year-old tin cans of paint. If these garage guys, who all want to put them into business someday, didn’t need these building materials, then we don’t need them, even less so.
I will make a special note here for those who read diagonally and then write comments. This text is not about paint and tiles. This is a text about overgrowing with unnecessary things.
I believe that our people hate throwing away and do not understand that there is excess and unnecessary. They strive to acquire things in order to live with difficulty between them later. The desire is so not new that it is even on the list of sins and is called molestation. This is a sinful passion, which consists in the desire to acquire things without visible benefit to oneself, collecting unnecessary things.
Personally, as an atheist, I perceive the description of this sin as an accurate observation of human nature by our ancestors. Which, of course, has not changed at all in a thousand years. We still keep all sorts of rubbish as something unrealistically valuable, we still multiply it and do not allow us to get rid of it.
I have several familiar families who live in tiny Khrushchev houses. They always have one room filled with rubbish. Although one cannot complain that the apartment is too spacious to live in. It’s just filled with history, that’s all.
What does your balcony, or rather loggia, look like? Maybe yours is clean, fresh and perfect for walking to the window with a cup of coffee and looking out at the beautiful view. I know for sure a dozen loggias where there are some old yellow newspapers, ancient jam jars, broken skis, old spotted blankets, some bundles with some things and something else.
If we throw this out, will poverty immediately set in?
And until the son has a brave wife who dares to dismantle the loggia, while everyone is in the way, tearing objects out of their hands and arguing about the need for each, things will be stored on the balcony.
There will be three broken ones standing there washing machines and there’s an unknitted skirt lying around, which the mother of the family started right after her marriage, but gave birth to two, waited for grandchildren - and no longer had time for the skirt. But he won’t let you throw it away; he will prove that he’ll still last.
There will be a box with some documents that friends asked me to give before going abroad. And this is where, it turns out, the cat went to secretly pee.
What do you have? Can these items ever be useful if no one even remembers what's in there? Why is all this being stored? If we throw this out, will poverty immediately set in?
A very middle-aged woman died not long ago beautiful woman. We came to sort out her things. A ton of wonderful books and suitcases with her school dresses. Souvenirs from travel and stacks of Ogonyok magazine. We have added a lot to good hands. A lot was thrown away.
Things, even very beloved ones, if they are not Picasso paintings or an antique buffet - not something that will later go to auction for a lot of money - alas, cannot survive us. But if you don’t throw out the can of water-based emulsion and newspapers from the loggia now, they will live in petrified form longer than you and me.