I disagree with the above statment because I do feel that I learn something from the above experiences you mention. Traveling to certain countries has made me realize how lucky I am to live in this country and how much wealth I have compared to them (I’m just an average citizen). I can’t get that knowledge from walking down the street to skid row, b/c I feel that Americans have a choice and we have so many resources, that there should be no need for that. Traveling has also challenged me to learn a new language (even if its just few words) and I’ve had to problem solve and use my creativity to get around and communicate. It has also helped me understand certain cultures a lot more. California is so diverse that I don’t understand why people behave the way they do, until I visit their country. I learn by doing. Yes, i can get this out of a book and I do love to read, but it is more interesting to me to see it live. Maybe this is silly, but I don’t get these “experiences” in Los Angeles. I’ve been living here all my life and there is no newness to anything. In fact, I don’t like going out very much because there is too much traffic and most people here annoy me.

In terms of concerts, I value being able to sit outside (hollywood bowl), have a glass of wine and food, sharing with my friends and family and being together. Yes, we can do this at home or at a park, but there we don’t have live music at home or at my local park. What I learn from this experience is it reminds me how important my family and friends are and how lucky I am to have them around to share this with. Sometimes, you have to step outside of your normal routine to “see or realize” things. Maybe that is just me.
With movies, it is the same thing. I usually learn something from it. Movies make me see things from a different point of view.

When you refer to those that “go along”…I don’t understand what you mean…Who are these people? I don’t consider myself as someone who goes along…I create my own experiences. could you elaborate more on that please?

“Some of the things I own makes my life better on a daily basis unlike pretty much all the memories”
Could you give an example of what some of those things are so I can better understand your viewpoint? I guess you can say my microwave makes my life better (in that it lets me eat sooner) but I wouldn’t say that I learn anything from it or that my life is so much better off…All it does is save me some time, but if I didn’t have a microwave I wouldn’t be too disappointed…An ipod makes my life easier b/c its smaller and holds more music, but if I had to go back to a cd walkman, it wouldn’t be a life changing experience nor would i learn anything from it.

“how much is the memory of some old event worth” – To me a lot! It puts a smile on my face, it shows me how far I’ve come as a person and how much I have changed (reflection is learning about yourself, knowledge), It gives me something to hand down to my future kids/family – I pass on knowledge, advice, my photo albums are like a reference book. I wish that my parents had albums to show me so I could learn more about their upbringing and see what they were like, how they dressed..what was important to them. Since my parents aren’t big communicators, these types of things are important to someone like me. When I ask my aunts uncles and parents about things they don’t remember anymore…memories are gone…They are very valuable b/c there is a piece of information that I could have learned from.

So that is why these experiences are valuable to me. I also learn a lot from reading…I can do that at home. I have a lot of money saved up thanks to all the PF books out there…but it was an “experience” that led me to buy the books…if I had not gone through that “experience” i probably would be in debt and have no savings account today. That i why experiences are valuable…they lead to action, at least to me.

“What will people be buying next when they bought all the experiences that can be bought?”

Why do you think there’s such an effort to endow big buildings at universities, hospitals, etc… it’s sometimes a vain attempt at immortalizing their name, or preserving their legacy.

Or, why do so many very wealthy people go off to India to study w/ an Ashram. They aren’t seeking the thrill of getting on a plane and going far away or getting malaria; they are seeking the elusive inner peace.

A lot of hyperspending has moved past the stuff then experiences treadmill.

Of course, one could realize they aren’t forced to spend at least 90% of their income through 40 years of working, but that is way too far from the mainstream. And don’t forget Jacob, of course ‘experiences’ will have greater value to people who spend the vast majority of their waking time doing what they hate. Experience to them just means time spent doing something other than the horribe norm.

I like Jacob’s point about things being experienced, too – it’s true. And likewise if you seriously just take the train into Eastern Europe so you can be there for 5 minutes and add a flag to your map, well you’ve kind of turned that experience into an object to some degree as well.

For me, experiences don’t sit around in the past, like “memories” as some quaint cabinet of curiosities we can look at over and over… they are always with us in the present. They contribute to our current viewpoint and what we think we know in the present. Experience structures your cognitive apparatus – it is what sculpts your ongoing interaction with your environment.

There’s also something to be said about the number of “things” around us and their interaction with our thoughts. Why minimalism is effective; “out of sight, out of mind,” etc.

And things that allow us to have experiences: a bike; a deck of cards; a computer, etc.

One day I will want to buy a sailboat and master the art of sailing. Perhaps I will one day want to sail around the world or to the Caribbean.

I find these purchases to be more fulfilling than week-long jaunts to exotic places around the world (at least given my young age). Also I don’t like buying things that will hold me back in life and not allow me to do what I want to do (i.e. a house).

I think there is a big difference between buying a dvd (one time use and boring) or purchasing something that takes time to master and endless amounts of fun and benefits.

It is also problematic to consider experiences too broadly or too abstractly. There is a qualitative difference between seeing a film at the cinema or attending a theatre production, both of which may be genuinely enjoyable as an evening’s entertainment; and travelling to a distant family event where dormant relationships will be rekindled and nostalgic memories will be shared. The latter draws out our sociability and bonds us to a tribe that gives us meaning beyond ourselves. Additionally, many experiences have a didactic component. We genuninely learn from the experience so that our future dealings are safer or more efficient or more productive, etc.

Our society looks askance at heirarchical judgments, i.e. that one thing or experience is better or worse than another. But for most, a fine 3-course meal is “better” than any option at McDonalds or Burger King. Neverthess, these judgments are heavily influenced by values. So the one traveller longs to plant the flag in as many European countries as quickly as possible simply for the sake of having done so, while another wishes to linger among the people of this or that country to actually experience some cultural insights from that perspective. Each of us will favor one or the other, but would be embittered if the option that did not satisfy us was imposed upon us as the “better” way.

Thanks again Jacob for a thought-provoking piece.

NT – knowledge and gadgets
NF – idols and unicorn figurines
SP – experiences
SJ – things and degrees

@Benjamin – I’d say “the longer”. Not the more recently. The typo thing is strongly correlated with how late it is when I write a post.

I can somewhat see JD and Trent’s point though – being in that boat myself, although not buying as much stuff as they both did apparently – I think they might have a “grass is greener on the other side” thing going on here. They have some regret about buying all that stuff while young. Now that they now the magic of compound interest, they see what their net worth could have been. I struggle with the same issues. Sometimes I have to remind myself I’m still better off than probably 90% of people in the world and find satisfaction in that.

I do value experience though – especially travel. Maybe it’s because I get bored easily, but I do like to see new places – architecture and natural landscape fascinate me. But I’m also happy to stay home and learn something new – planting a garden, building a rain barrel, installing a dishwasher, etc.

The new 2009 PF blogosphere approved purchases are: hookers, strippers, lapdances, cruises to nude beaches, boozing it away on a night clubs, gambling it all away in Vegas , …. the puritan bloggers don’t realize any of thess things exist, they think any ‘experiece’ is a backpacking trip through France or whatever.

The two posts I have seen on this (GRS and TSD) were both written by guys who have a lot of stuff but no experiences! They loaded up their 20′s with DVD’s and comic books and now tell us we should go out an “buy” experiences. As if you just go to your local super store and purchase an experience. Too bad stuff is cheap, and experiences so expensive.

There is at least one reason from the ERE perspective to go for an experience over a material good, and you already touched on it in the post: an experience mostly belongs in the realm of the memory, thus unless one actively buys souvenirs while experiencing, one needn’t worry about selling/storing an experience at home.

And I beg to differ; not everybody who has E is looking for E+1 the next time. I suppose it would be lame to offer myself as a counter-example, so I won’t. I would say that this may be a more readily observable trend in a thrill-seeking crowd, rather than Joe American who wants to go first class to Paris for 3 days and see the sites.

I suppose it’s all about personal valuation whether or not the added expense is worth it.

Of course it depends on specific experiences and things purchased as much as on the personality type.

My personal experience is that I take most things for granted very soon after buying/receiving them, but experiences get better. Something about only remembering the highlights and forgetting the boring details probably.