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Buying Experiences Probably Doesn't Make You Happier than Buying Possessions

sashachapin.substack.com · 2,164 words · saved by 1 readers

be skeptical of psychologists

The “experience recommendation” is the notion that you will be happier if you spend your money on experiences, rather than possessions, and it’s become a modern truism, having been supposedly proved by psychological science. It sounds good, right? Like, it’s very flattering to a certain class of worldly people who have spent their capital on accruing anecdotes. Ah, yes—we who go on retreats in Bali are much happier than the unsophisticated materialistic people who spend money on handbags or whatever. It also supports the notion, which occasionally floats around, that wealthy people aren’t…

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