April 26, 2012
THUS THE STATE BORDER RULE:
Memory As A Consumer Durable (Garett Jones, 4/26/12, The Atlantic)
[T]he idea of a durable is more important than any official definition: And memory, wholly intangible, is quite durable.People often shrink from driving to a distant, promising restaurant, flying to a new country, trying a new sport--it's a hassle, and the experience won't last that long. That's the wrong way to look at it. When you go bungee jumping, you're not buying a brief experience: You're buying a memory, one that might last even longer than a good pair of blue jeans.Psych research seems to bear this out: People love looking forward to vacations, they don't like the vacation that much while they're on it, and then they love the memories. Most of the joy--the utility in econospeak--happens when you're not having the experience.
Just read a book and you get all the memories with none of the unpleasant experience of travel.
Posted by Orrin Judd at April 26, 2012 6:00 AM
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