Diderot's Dishwasher
Have you ever bought a new coat and thought, “hmm, now I need a smarter bag to go with it”? If so, you’ve experienced the Diderot Effect. Denis Diderot (1713-84) was a French writer, famous for his encyclopaedia and a novel about saucy nuns. In 1765, his daughter was getting married and Diderot couldn’t afford to pay for the wedding. Fortunately, Catherine the Great (a big fan of Diderot) came to the rescue by paying him the equivalent of $150,000 for his personal library, also allowing him to retain the books. With money to spare after paying for the nuptials, Diderot bought himself a smart new scarlet robe. Swishing about in his new acquisition, he suddenly realised that everything else at home was a bit shabby. Soon he’d acquired an expensive rug, pricey sculptures, and a stylish leather chair. Diderot describes the experience in his ‘Regrets for my Old Dressing Gown, or, a warning to those who have more taste than fortune,’ later inspiring anthropologist Grant McCracken to coin the term the “Diderot effect”. ...