In his words, there was “no more coordination, no more unity, no more beauty” between his robe and the rest of his items.
The philosopher soon felt the urge to buy some new things to match the beauty of his robe.
The Diderot Effect states that obtaining a new possession often creates a spiral of consumption which leads you to acquire more new things.
As a result, we end up buying things that our previous selves never needed to feel happy or fulfilled.
I recently bought a new car and I ended up purchasing all sorts of additional things to go inside it.
And yet, after getting my shiny new car, I found myself falling into the same consumption spiral as Diderot.
Given this tendency, I believe that taking active steps to reduce the flow of unquestioned consumption makes our lives better. »