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Limiting use of resources should not be humanity's main ambition. Encouraging human creativity - which buying new things does - is more important, in my view, t

Limiting use of resources should not be humanity's main ambition. Encouraging human creativity - which buying new things does - is more important, in my view, than minimising use of resources. It is only this generation's environmentalist mindset that make such a big issue of resource use, at the cost of almost anything else. Having said that, I am not saying that people should not repair stuff - people can do what they want. I was just pointing to the benefits of buying new things, which has somehow become a contentious issue nowadays. Hence, the downvotes...

JoachimSchipper 14y ago
I'm not convinced new things is the best way to encourage creativity: consider buying a new (factory-produced, line) car vs. a cheap repair plus commissioning a nice painting. (I think scarce vs. abundant resources is too big a topic for a HN comment thread; suffice to say that I disagree, especially with the notion that we "make such a big issue of resource use, at the cost of almost anything else.")
- alexkearns 14y ago
  I agree. Buying a new painting would certainly encourage and reward creativity, which is kind of the point I am making.
Someone 14y ago
"Encouraging human creativity - which buying new things does" Citation needed/please explain.
- alexkearns 14y ago
  See great grand parent
  - Someone 14y ago
    That does not talk about creativity, but of creating things. Even if it did, I do not find it a valuable argument, in the current large-scale economy. Making him/her richer may stimulate the creativity of that entrepreneur, but the price of that is a horde of zombie consumers who cannot express his creativity by making/repairing stuff themselves. In a small-scale economy, say where every village has a blacksmith, a tinker, a tailor, etc. the net effect might be positive, because it allows many people to spend time to become good at expressing their creativity.

JoachimSchipper 14y ago

I'm not convinced new things is the best way to encourage creativity: consider buying a new (factory-produced, line) car vs. a cheap repair plus commissioning a nice painting. (I think scarce vs. abundant resources is too big a topic for a HN comment thread; suffice to say that I disagree, especially with the notion that we "make such a big issue of resource use, at the cost of almost anything else.")

alexkearns 14y ago
I agree. Buying a new painting would certainly encourage and reward creativity, which is kind of the point I am making.

Someone 14y ago

"Encouraging human creativity - which buying new things does" Citation needed/please explain.

alexkearns 14y ago
See great grand parent
- Someone 14y ago
  That does not talk about creativity, but of creating things. Even if it did, I do not find it a valuable argument, in the current large-scale economy. Making him/her richer may stimulate the creativity of that entrepreneur, but the price of that is a horde of zombie consumers who cannot express his creativity by making/repairing stuff themselves. In a small-scale economy, say where every village has a blacksmith, a tinker, a tailor, etc. the net effect might be positive, because it allows many people to spend time to become good at expressing their creativity.