Specialness Spirals and How Much You Will (and Have) Changed (1000th Episode!)
Curiosity Weekly
Warner Bros. Discovery
4.6 • 963 Ratings
🗓️ 3 November 2021
⏱️ 19 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Learn about saving something for an occasion that never comes; and how much you’ve changed in the past vs. the future. Plus: Cody and Ashley celebrate Curiosity Daily’s 1,000th episode!
Join Cody and Ashley for a special live stream celebrating Curiosity Daily’s 1,000th episode on Wednesday, November 3! Register for free here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/curiosity-dailys-1000th-episode-celebration-tickets-191163133077
"Specialness spirals" could explain why we save some items for a special occasion that never comes by Steffie Drucker
- Rifkin, J. (2021, September 22). Psychological “specialness spirals” can make ordinary items feel like treasures – and may explain how clutter accumulates. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/psychological-specialness-spirals-can-make-ordinary-items-feel-like-treasures-and-may-explain-how-clutter-accumulates-165863
- How Nonconsumption Can Turn Ordinary Items into Perceived Treasures | Journal of the Association for Consumer Research: Vol 6, No 3. (2021). Journal of the Association for Consumer Research. https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/714363
You probably think you've changed more in the past than you will in the future, but, well… by Steffie Drucker
- We Think We’ve Changed More In The Past Than We Will Change In The Future — And Americans Seem Particularly Susceptible To This Illusion. (2021, September 21). Research Digest.
- Haas, B. W., & Omura, K. (2021). Cultural Differences in Susceptibility to the End of History Illusion. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 014616722110368. https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672211036873
- Why You Won’t Be the Person You Expect to Be (Published 2013). (2021). The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/04/science/study-in-science-shows-end-of-history-illusion.html
- Bence Nanay. (2018). The “End of History” Illusion. Ted.com; TED Talks. https://www.ted.com/talks/bence_nanay_the_end_of_history_illusion
- Gilbert, D. (2012). The psychology of your future self. Ted.com; TED Talks. https://www.ted.com/talks/dan_gilbert_the_psychology_of_your_future_self
Follow Curiosity Daily on your favorite podcast app to learn something new every day with Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer. Still curious? Get exclusive science shows, nature documentaries, and more real-life entertainment on discovery+! Go to https://discoveryplus.com/curiosity to start your 7-day free trial. discovery+ is currently only available for US subscribers.
Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/specialness-spirals-and-how-much-you-will-and-have-changed-1000th-episode
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hi, you're about to get smarter in just a few minutes with Curiosity Daily from Curiosity.com. |
| 0:06.7 | I'm Cody Gough. And I'm Ashley Hamer. |
| 0:08.8 | Today you learn about why you save some things for a special occasion, but never end up using them at all. Why you save some things for a special occasion, but never end up using them at all? |
| 0:14.7 | Why you might want to rethink that belief you probably have that you've changed more in the past |
| 0:18.9 | than you will in the future? |
| 0:20.7 | And how Cody and I feel about the fact that this is Curiosity Daily's 1,000th episode. |
| 0:26.6 | Yes, so many feels and thoughts and stuff. |
| 0:31.6 | So stick around, but first let's satisfy some curiosity. |
| 0:36.0 | If you've ever had an item you refused to use until a special occasion that never comes. |
| 0:43.0 | This one's for you. |
| 0:44.0 | A new study has gotten to the bottom of why we do this to ourselves. |
| 0:49.0 | Marketing researchers Jacqueline Rifkin and Jonah Berger |
| 0:52.0 | invited 121 students to their lab to solve word |
| 0:56.0 | puzzles and gave them each a blank notebook. |
| 0:59.7 | Half of the group could use either their new notebook or some scrap paper to solve the puzzles by hand, |
| 1:05.0 | while the other half didn't get the option. |
| 1:07.0 | Instead, they used a computer. |
| 1:09.0 | In the second round, everyone had to solve the second set of puzzles by hand, again using scrap paper |
| 1:15.8 | or the notebooks. |
| 1:17.8 | Those who had consciously chosen not to use their notebooks in round one were far less likely to use them in round two. |
| 1:25.0 | Later experiments zeroed in on why people decide to hold off. |
| 1:30.0 | In these tests, participants imagined they'd bought a 12 dollar bottle of Pinot Noir. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Warner Bros. Discovery, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Warner Bros. Discovery and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.