The Science Of Why You Should Spend Your Money On Experiences, Not Things

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by J pold

This seems like one of those justifications middle class white girls use to convince their parents to pay for them to go Thailand, take drugs at a full moon party, get a tacky foot tattoo and come home enlightened from their deep “experiences”.

Haha, so would an article expressing the opposite viewpoint represent bored, middle-class white guys, in sexless, resentful marriages trying to justify their years of investing and saving for retirement?

[Regorium]

Originally Posted by J pold

This seems like one of those justifications middle class white girls use to convince their parents to pay for them to go Thailand, take drugs at a full moon party, get a tacky foot tattoo and come home enlightened from their deep “experiences”.

These were my exact thoughts when I read this article.

[Regorium]

Originally Posted by rubecube

Haha, so would an article expressing the opposite viewpoint represent bored, middle-class white guys, in sexless, resentful marriages trying to justify their years of investing and saving for retirement?

Naw, have you talked to those girls?

I was actually at the full moon party 2 months ago. So many girls there on daddy's dime just "experiencing" the world. It was amazing to me that these 22-24 year olds had so little understanding of the world.

There were those that were there on their own money (ie. barely getting by), and that's fine too and perhaps was where the article was aimed at, but these were much rarer.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by Regorium

Naw, have you talked to those girls?

You mean the Aussies that take off around the world for the better part of a year and "just can't understand" why anyone else doesn't?

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Regorium

Naw, have you talked to those girls?

I was actually at the full moon party 2 months ago. So many girls there on daddy's dime just "experiencing" the world. It was amazing to me that these 22-24 year olds had so little understanding of the world.

There were those that were there on their own money (ie. barely getting by), and that's fine too and perhaps was where the article was aimed at, but these were much rarer.

Well if we are passing judgement, I am not sure that going to Thailand on yourown or anyone else's dime generates that great of an understanding of yourself or the world.......

How about doing something difficult when you are young to learn something about yourself.

[OMG!WTF!]

Oh look. Here's a BBC video that shows there is scientific proof art makes you happy.

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddes...akes-you-happy

Clearly you should own art, look at it every day, and be happier rather than doing stuff.

[JiriHrdina]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

The insecurity of certain posters in this thread is palpable.

It has been an interesting discussion thus far.
So what is the point of this gem of a post? Just to take a random shot?

[chid]

I agree with Silver, some people no matter what experience or material thing will feel happiness. I know lots of people who go on a trip and come home miserable and still in search of this unattainable thing. I also know others who are constantly happy over just waking up in the morning.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by OMG!WTF!

Oh look. Here's a BBC video that shows there is scientific proof art makes you happy.

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddes...akes-you-happy

Clearly you should own art, look at it every day, and be happier rather than doing stuff.

Want to maybe try debating like a grown up if you're going to participate?

[OMG!WTF!]

Originally Posted by rubecube

Want to maybe try debating like a grown up if you're going to participate?

Man you are not easily amused. What's to debate? You seem intent on telling people they need to have experiences to be happy as if science has proven some great hypothesis you've been working on. Great. Whatever. Don't care. It's trying to pass off "science" as "I've already won this argument" that gets lame. I can find "science" for just about any heuristic point of view you want. Especially social science. It's like shooting fish in a barrel. This guy has studied what makes people happy for like 30 years and he came up with...doing stuff with other people makes you happier than buying stuff? Amazing. Now insert every possible variable in every possible human condition throughout time and you've got something. So what makes my article professing scientific proof of the benefit of material ownership less valid than your guy's proof of the value of experience? Nothing because happiness is a continuum, not an either or, a one or the other. You know who bought the most art a local gallery last year? Widows. When no other experience on Earth will create a sense of peace, well being and consolation, people like looking at beautiful things because those things are the highest expression of the human experience.

[squiggs96]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

I can't believe this is a debate?

How can the owning of material items even come close to an experience, either good or bad.

Experiences shape the person you are, items do not.

One of the things that bothers me, a lot, is consumerism for the sake of it.

I think it depends what your preferences are. I like things more than I like experiences. I would rather spend my money on buying a piece of art, jersey, suit, stock my wine cellar, build my house, etc. than go on trips. I do enjoy being on trips, and have had some great ones, but I would rather look at a picture I bought than try and remember when I was there. My wife's sisters are the opposite. They have traveled to many parts of the world, sometimes for months at a time. They rent, build up their bank account and then go on a trip to zero it back out. I am not wired like that at all. I prefer to come home to a large house, where they prefer to stay in multiple places all over the globe. I want to retire when I'm 55 and they are wanting to purse things they don't want to retire from.

Even the types of trips people take will vary. The sisters go to places like Burma or South Africa and live in huts without running water. I won't even go camping, but I'm quite content to sit in Maui where I can golf and snorkel all day.

They key thing to note is we are all very happy with our lives. None of the ways are the only way to live, and that's what makes free will great. You can be at either extreme or anywhere in between.

[Bill Bumface]

I think sometimes they are very linked. I bet many people have sold a total POS car and felt sad seeing it drive away as it was a means to many experiences and also the material link to memories of those experiences.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by OMG!WTF!

Man you are not easily amused. What's to debate? You seem intent on telling people they need to have experiences to be happy as if science has proven some great hypothesis you've been working on. Great. Whatever. Don't care. It's trying to pass off "science" as "I've already won this argument" that gets lame.

I don't think that's what's been happening at all in here. I have my personal viewpoint on it, and there are others that disagree. Take a look at squiggs post. I'm not going to respond by saying "SCIENCE SAYS YOU'RE NOT HAPPY! DERP!" You're the one who came barreling in with a post that added absolutely nothing to the discourse.

You know who bought the most art a local gallery last year? Widows. When no other experience on Earth will create a sense of peace, well being and consolation, people like looking at beautiful things because those things are the highest expression of the human experience.

If this had been your original point, combined with your article, then it would have actually added something worth talking about. Hell, even the rest of your second post had some value to the overall conversation. What was the point of your first post other than to disrupt and mock what had otherwise been a perfectly reasonable discussion up until then?

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by Bill Bumface

I think sometimes they are very linked. I bet many people have sold a total POS car and felt sad seeing it drive away as it was a means to many experiences and also the material link to memories of those experiences.

Yeah, the nostalgia factor is definitely something to consider. That said, people generally don't get all that wistful when they upgrade to the latest iPhone, gaming system, etc.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Bill Bumface

I think sometimes they are very linked. I bet many people have sold a total POS car and felt sad seeing it drive away as it was a means to many experiences and also the material link to memories of those experiences.

I think the argument here would be that it doesn't matter if it was a POS car or a Lexus you are sad because of the experience it's tied to.

So material possessions which allow you to have an experience can drive happiness but the amount of money spent on the material thing doesn't matter

This ties into something I have been doing for the past few years. When I take on a hobbie I have a tendency to obsess over gear. And used to buy gear that was marginally better. What I realized a few years ago was buying better gear did not improve the experience and it was really a substitute for feeling I didn't have time to do the hobby.

So what I decided to do was to only buy things if they are replacing something worn out or would expand what I can do. And when buying things get the best value rather than the best item. Then you spend the rest on gas and plane tickets.

The two items that I haven't been able to kick though that really don't generate any happiness are eating out for lunch at work and Starbucks at work. This thread is rather timely in getting me to evaluate that spending.

So I would generally agree that material possessions beyond what is needed to have an experience don't derive happiness.

[GGG]

One other thing I would also argue is that it isn't the actual experience that you get happiness from but the people and social interactions you had during the experience.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by GGG

One other thing I would also argue is that it isn't the actual experience that you get happiness from but the people and social interactions you had during the experience.

Yeah experience seemed like a bit of a catch-all that didn't quite fit. Something along the lines of social interaction and/or bonding fits better. I guess that's a type of experience, but I dunno, you can get experience from material things as well.

[jammies]

Originally Posted by J pold

This seems like one of those justifications middle class white girls use to convince their parents to pay for them to go Thailand, take drugs at a full moon party, get a tacky foot tattoo and come home enlightened from their deep “experiences”.

And 20 years from now, they'll be thinking "I wish instead of going to Thailand, I would have stayed home and worked that part-time job at the mall." If only they had come by this wisdom earlier in life!

[jammies]

And, more constructively, some people don't value experiences as much as things because they lack the imagination to savour something evanescent, and prefer the concrete and familiar to the new and untried.

Hmm, that wasn't really constructive, was it? Ah well, I think it's true - and I think people like that are rarely happy, their aspirations are more towards a kind of repetitive contentment.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by GGG

One other thing I would also argue is that it isn't the actual experience that you get happiness from but the people and social interactions you had during the experience.

I don't know if that's necessarily true all of the time. Just from my own experiences, I cherish solitude. Maybe that is coming from being saturated by the opposite, but going away and seeing new things and places, just by myself, is very enjoyable. The fewer people to have to interact with the better. That's just my introverted view on the topic. I guess at some point though, I might feel unhappy if I couldn't relate my adventures with somebody, but I feel that's just the equivalent of making people look at your vacation photos.