Buy Experiences, Not Things By James Hamblin

In the article “Buy Experiences, Not things” James Hamblin, the author, elucidates how experiences bring more happiness than possessions, because utility of buying anything really starts accruing before even buying it, when people are waiting for an actual experience their moods tend to be much more positive, and people tend to be more generous to others when they’ve just thought about an experiential purchase as opposed to a material one.

The first point Hamblin emphasizes is utility of buying anything really starts accruing before even buying it. In the article the author states “waiting for an experience apparently elicits more happiness and excitement than waiting for a material good” (3). Waiting for a concert, or vacation would bring a lot more excitement to someone rather than waiting for an Iphone, because although a new phone can be exciting it is only new for so long, but a vacation has memories that last. …show more content…
Hamblin says in the article “...it’s going to be a lot more pleasant experience than if they’re being mean to each other which is what’s more likely to happen when people are waiting for material goods” (6). People waiting for the same concert or something like that connect because they most likely have things in common, however material goods are just money out of your pocket and could potentially make someone else jealous or upset that they are getting the same thing as