The Diderot Effect #shorts

2022-11-25 · Short · Ali · recording, 0:57 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Money and investing · mode: Personal story · tags: Lesson from a book

Ali tells how Denis Diderot, after Catherine the Great bought his library in 1766, bought a fancy dressing gown and then more and more things to match it: one purchase leading to another, now called the Diderot effect.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Denis Diderot's dressing gown and the Diderot effect

• ★★ Ali says the French philosopher Denis Diderot lived mostly in poverty writing and editing encyclopedias until 1766, when Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia, bought his entire library for the equivalent of around 150,000 to help pay for his daughter's wedding. — 00:00:00
• ★★ Ali says that with his new money Denis Diderot first bought a fancy dressing gown, then, because nothing else he owned matched its quality, a new desk, an armchair and paintings, spiralling into endless consumption. — 00:00:29

• ★★★ Ali defines the Diderot effect as one purchase leading to another and another, named after Denis Diderot's spiral of buying after his dressing gown. — 00:00:29

  “one purchase leading to another, leading to another is now called the Diderot effect”

Mentioned

Central: Denis Diderot · Diderot effect

Also: Catherine the Great · Russia

Only in the description or credits: Atomic Habits · James Clear

Replies to

• refers to · Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results - Atomic Habits by James Clear

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