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This article is republished with permission from <\/em>Wonder Tools<\/a>, a newsletter that helps you discover the most useful sites and apps.<\/em><\/p>\n I love new gadgets and gizmos, and I\u2019m constantly trying new sites and apps. So I was intrigued by the title of Eric Athas<\/a>\u2019s upcoming book, Saying No to New<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n Athas is an editor at The New York Times<\/em>, where he helps journalists make the most of new tools. He\u2019s also a lifelong early adopter. He told me he used to wait in line for new iPhones. But his upcoming book argues for thinking twice about acquiring new stuff.<\/p>\n When Athas and I were growing up, if you wanted to buy something cool you saw on TV, you\u2019d have to drive to a store. You or your parents would have to spend cash. If you ordered something by mail, you\u2019d wait weeks for delivery.<\/p>\n Today, you can tap on a phone and the thing that caught your eye appears at your door the next day. You can even buy now, pay later, so you don\u2019t need cash. Coming next? AI agents that shop for you proactively. They anticipate what you want so you don\u2019t have to make any decision at all.<\/p>\n Athas calls this the collapse of the \u201cnew-thing gap.\u201d The time, distance, and cost between seeing something new and acquiring it has shrunk. That gap used to protect us from buying on impulse.<\/p>\n Athas suggests we reintroduce friction by pausing long enough to ask whether the new thing will actually matter a month from now.<\/p>\n Athas and I compared old odd gadgets in our offices.<\/p>\n Athas\u2019s book isn\u2019t about rejecting everything new. It\u2019s about choosing things thoughtfully so that the genuinely useful things don\u2019t get crowded out. Some of the new tools we like:<\/p>\n What these tools have in common: They solve a real problem, they\u2019ve lasted, and we\u2019ve stuck with them.<\/p>\n Athas\u2019s new book is grounded in neuroscience. When we encounter something new, we get a dopamine hit. That neurological response evolved to help our ancestors survive. New food sources, new paths, new shelter: Those discoveries were rewarding.<\/p>\n But sometimes novelty seduces us without offering anything meaningful. In one study Athas describes, rats repeatedly crossed an electrified grid just to explore an unfamiliar area. They chose pain plus novelty over a known food source. Humans do something similar. We covet a new phone partly for its camera, but partly just because it\u2019s new. Then we do it all over again. Even if we can\u2019t afford it. That\u2019s one reason why so many Americans are in debt.<\/p>\n I recently read Dopamine Nation<\/a><\/em>, <\/strong>a surprisingly engrossing book by Dr. Anna Lembke, <\/strong>about how our brains are so readily seduced by pleasure.<\/p>\n What results is an unfortunate cycle. We get something new, enjoy it briefly, and soon we\u2019re scanning for the next new thing. My college adviser, Daniel Kahneman<\/a>, studied and wrote about this \u201chedonic treadmill\u201d effect.<\/p>\n His research showed that we overestimate how much a new purchase will improve how we feel. And novelty tends to wear off quickly. He called it \u201chedonic adaptation.\u201d<\/p>\n That doesn\u2019t mean we should avoid all new things. But it does mean we should think carefully about whether there\u2019s something genuinely meaningful behind the new shine.<\/p>\n Research shows that trips, cooking classes, concerts, and other new experiences tend to give us more lasting delight than new products do.<\/p>\n That\u2019s partly because experiences tend to be social. You go with someone. Or you meet people there. You talk about it afterward. Trips have a beginning, middle, and end. You have a story you can retell. A new pan doesn\u2019t generate much conversation after the first week. Its novelty fades fast.<\/p>\n Kahneman, who was one of the best teachers and advisers I\u2019ve ever had, introduced me to the related \u201ccomforts versus pleasure\u201d theory. It was originally described by Tibor Scitovsky in The Joyless Economy<\/a>: The Psychology of Human Satisfaction<\/a><\/em>. It changed the way I think about spending money.<\/p>\n Comforts are things we buy and then quickly adapt to. A nicer couch. A bigger TV. They feel great at first, then they fade into the background.<\/p>\n Pleasures, on the other hand, are transient experiences: a delicious dinner with friends, a live concert, surprise flowers, or a summer walk with someone you love in a new city.<\/p>\n These kinds of experiences are brief, but they retain their emotional charge when you reflect back on them. Kahneman\u2019s argument, supported by numerous studies, was that pleasures enhance happiness more durably than comforts because we don\u2019t adapt to them. The research findings\u2019 bottom line: If you want more happiness, splurge on special experiences with loved ones rather than expensive things.<\/p>\n Athas\u2019s suggestion: If you\u2019re drawn to something new, try turning the purchase into a social experience. Waiting in line with a friend for trendy cookies transforms a dopamine-seeking buying excursion into an experience and a fun shared memory.<\/p>\n Daniel Pink<\/a> recently made a compelling video<\/a> on the same theme: how to spend money so it actually makes you happier. His take aligns with Athas\u2019s and Kahneman\u2019s. Spend on experiences, not things.<\/p>\n Athas suggests a few questions to ask before you acquire something new:<\/p>\n Athas\u2019s coffee maker still works. His wife wants him to upgrade. He resists, not out of stubbornness, but because it does exactly what he needs. He programs it at night. He wakes up to fresh coffee. No learning curve.<\/p>\n His suggestion: Before replacing something, ask whether what you already have is still good enough. Something better always exists, but if the upgrade is just about novelty, it might not be worth the effort, expense, or space.<\/p>\n I have more than 600 apps on my phone. I use only a small fraction regularly. But I\u2019ve realized that going back and manually deleting everything I\u2019m not using is a waste of time. In the digital domain, unlike the physical one, unused things don\u2019t take up much space. Going back and deleting emails or apps one by one feels like more of a waste than letting them sit idly in the graveyard.<\/p>\n About two-thirds of Americans still read books on paper despite the convenience of ebooks. Part of what\u2019s appealing about them is sensory: the way pages turn, the way a book feels in your hands, the smell of the paper.<\/p>\n But there\u2019s another advantage. A paper book doesn\u2019t send notifications. It offers no tempting apps. The same goes for vinyl records, Polaroid photos, sand timers, and handwritten journals. Each of these enables you to deeply focus on what you\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n My grandfather taught me to use a Minolta camera<\/a> when I was little. The quality of its pictures doesn\u2019t match that of an iPhone. But old objects like the Minolta have intrinsic value beyond their function. A hand-me-down camera is a reminder of love.<\/p>\n I have more than 50,000 photos on my phone. That abundance, paradoxically, devalues each individual image. When film was limited and developing took days, every picture felt more precious. Anticipating which pictures might turn out was part of the thrill of photography. I don\u2019t want to return to that era. But the photos my wife and I have printed and framed mean more to me than many of the ones sitting in my phone\u2019s camera roll.<\/p>\n The last chapter in Athas\u2019s book is about invisible influence. If your friends are constantly upgrading their homes, devices, or apps, you might feel the pull to keep pace. It\u2019s tempting to follow the cultural lead of those around us.<\/p>\n The reverse is also true. Choosing to stick to what you have quietly signals to other people that it\u2019s okay to keep the old thing, to skip the trend.<\/p>\n This article is republished with permission from <\/em>Wonder Tools<\/a>, a newsletter that helps you discover the most useful sites and apps.<\/em>1. The Vanishing Gap Between Wanting and Getting<\/h2>\n
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2. Show and Tell: Our Gadget Graveyards<\/strong><\/h2>\n
From my desk:<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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From Eric Athas\u2019s desk:<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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3. New Things Worth Saying Yes To<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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4. Our Brains Chase Seductive Novelty<\/strong><\/h2>\n
5. Experiences Outlast Products<\/strong><\/h2>\n
6. Ask These Questions<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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7. Good Enough is Sometimes Enough<\/strong><\/h2>\n
8. Paper Books and Quiet Treasures<\/strong><\/h2>\n
9. Choices Are Contagious<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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<\/a><\/p>\n
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![Minolta camera<\/a> when I was little. The quality of its pictures doesn\u2019t match that of an iPhone. But old objects like the Minolta have intrinsic value beyond their function. A hand-me-down camera is a reminder of love.<\/p>\nI have more than 50,000 photos on my phone. That abundance, paradoxically, devalues each individual image. When film was limited and developing took days, every picture felt more precious. Anticipating which pictures might turn out was part of the thrill of photography. I don\u2019t want to return to that era. But the photos my wife and I have printed and framed mean more to me than many of the ones sitting in my phone\u2019s camera roll.<\/p>\n9. Choices Are Contagious<\/strong><\/h2>\nThe last chapter in Athas\u2019s book is about invisible influence. If your friends are constantly upgrading their homes, devices, or apps, you might feel the pull to keep pace. It\u2019s tempting to follow the cultural lead of those around us.<\/p>\nThe reverse is also true. Choosing to stick to what you have quietly signals to other people that it\u2019s okay to keep the old thing, to skip the trend.<\/p>\n\nThis article is republished with permission from <\/em>Wonder Tools<\/a>, a newsletter that helps you discover the most useful sites and apps.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\nSource link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This article is republished with permission from Wonder Tools, a newsletter that helps you discover the most useful sites and apps. I love new gadgets and gizmos, and I\u2019m constantly trying new sites and apps. So I was intrigued by the title of Eric Athas\u2019s upcoming book, Saying No to New. Athas is an editor<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14161,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brand-spotlights"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14160"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14160\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}](\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/scl\/fi\/pnidc3ij8wxxyim32e7ja\/IMG_6600.heic?rlkey=19fd0no34itrdw7l8irfy53mp&st=kuxvk1ah&dl=0\"){kind=link}