I’ve been wanting to write about luxury for a long time, and take the opportunity to ask you a question.
I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but when someone buys a vehicle from a prestige brand, they often give all kinds of plausible explanations.
“I travel long distances, so I need a comfortable vehicle. »
“I have lower back pain. I wouldn’t be comfortable on the seat of a small Kia! »
“The safety of my family comes first to me. No compromise on that! »
Explanations which, if we don’t dwell on them so much, are full of common sense.
The problem comes when we dwell on it a little…
This is because our brain is the champion in all categories of the instantaneous elaboration of bogus justifications. As the American financier JP Morgan said: “A man always has two reasons for doing something: a good reason, and the real reason. »
A few years ago, Norbert Schwartz of the University of Michigan and Jing Xu of Peking University looked into the question of the impact of luxury vehicles on people’s satisfaction. They asked a group of participants if they thought driving a luxury car would be a more enjoyable experience than driving a regular car. Result: the majority were of the opinion that driving a luxury car would be more satisfying.
But when researchers asked people to quantify how much fun they had driving during a recent car trip, and tabulated the responses, they found that there was no difference between the responses given by people who had a luxury vehicle and those of people who drove an ordinary vehicle.
In a word, we quickly get used to luxury, and we quickly return to the same basic level of satisfaction.
Which brings me to my question.
Imagine for a moment that a genie appears and offers you a vehicle. It’s your lucky day!
The genie gives you two choices. Option 1: You can have a high-end Audi, but with the bodywork and logo of an inexpensive Kia model. Option 2: You can have a cheap Kia, but with the body and logo of a high-end Audi. As soon as you accept the car, only you know the subterfuge, and you cannot reveal the secret to anyone.
Think about it: with option 1, you benefit from unrivaled comfort, the best braking technologies, and foolproof safety. But your neighbors, your colleagues, your friends and other parents at the soccer field on Saturday morning will see you arriving in a cheap Kia.
With option 2, you have a more standard interior and options. But everyone is convinced that you are the owner of an Audi of the year.
Which option will you choose?
Logically, people who have a prestigious vehicle would choose option 1, right? After all, their backs and the safety of their loved ones come before such unimportant things as signaling to others that one is successful. Is not it ?
I like the reflections (and discomfort) that this type of exercise provokes.
This tension between our image and the image that others have of us is not new. 2000 years ago, the Roman emperor and philosopher Marcus Aurelius wrote in his Thoughts for myself : “I will never cease to be amazed: we all love each other more than others, but we care more about their opinion than ours. »
Note that when it comes to bogus justification, I don’t want to seem like I’m lecturing.
For example, I discovered an excuse at home that I was living with without realizing it.
For years, I have been impatient in the evening when my son goes past his bedtime. I have been told that I don’t always use the right tone to express myself in these moments.
Where does this impatience come from? The “good” reason, the one I accepted without thinking about it, is that I want my son to sleep long enough to be in good shape the next day.
However, if I spend the evening outside, or if I am traveling for work, do I worry about my son’s bedtime? No way. Yet, logically, I should be worried about it. How does my absence change the importance of him getting a good night’s sleep?
I realized that the “real” reason is that at 8:30 p.m., I can’t wait to get some peace and quiet in the house. And every minute this calm is pushed back gets on my nerves.
“The first principle is that we must not deceive ourselves,” wrote physicist Richard Feynman. And one is the easiest person to deceive. »
You don’t like stock market falls
I suspected it, but you confirmed it: you don’t like stock market falls.
Marcel writes: “Sometimes I feel like selling everything, or half, and placing it all in a guaranteed investment certificate. But my partner doesn’t want to, and I respect her opinion. My problem is that I don’t like to see that I’m losing money. »
Denis writes: “Of course it concerns me. I am retired and I am withdrawing amounts from my RRIF and LIF. For now, I have enough cash and dividend income to cover withdrawals for a few years. Hoping that the stock markets will recover in 2024 or 2025.”
The final word goes to Alain:
“Every stock purchase has always been followed by falls. Always ! To quote a poem by Paul Valéry:
These days which seem empty to you / And lost to the universe / Have greedy roots / Which work the deserts […] Patience, patience, / Patience in the blue! Each atom of silence / Is the luck of a ripe fruit! »