**An "upgrade" to a personal possession leads to a cascade of additional desires for other upgrades.** The Diderot Effect is what happens when the upgrade of one personal possession causes a cascade of additional desired upgrades. It was named after a French philosopher (and co-founder of Encyclopédie) "Denis Diderot", who was broke, came across some money, got a nice fancy silk robe, then replaced basically everything else he owned to match the "quality" of his robe, and was broke again. The Diderot Effect is an example of [[Lifestyle Creep]] and leads to no real overall increase in happiness or satisfaction due to the [[Hedonic Treadmill]]. # Examples - You buy a new phone - which needs a new case & charging stand, and suddenly your computer seems a bit out of date, and your watch starts to feel old - You get a new couch - which makes your living room feel weird, so you get a new rug & end tables, then new chairs **** ## Source - [[Mastering the Diderot Effect]] > 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. - James Clear - [The Diderot Effect: Why We Want Things We Don't Need](https://jamesclear.com/diderot-effect) ## Related - [[Lifestyle Creep]] - [[Hedonic Treadmill]] - [[Wear It Out]] - [[Maintenance is Underappreciated]] - [[Snowball Effects]]