The Monetary Worth of Memories
I don’t remember where I found this, but it contains a profound set of questions, including: what is the monetary worth of memories?
Meaning, what would you be willing to pay to retain your memories? Is there a price tag you’d place on how far you’d go to preserve your memories — from backing up your photos to treating memory loss? But also, what is the monetary worth of creating memories? Are there price tags you’re willing to pay not just for the experience but also for knowing you’ll have the memory of the experience afterward?
And then it travels into how do you know when you’re creating memories vs. living an experience that you’ll forget about over time? Or what would you do differently to allocate your money so you can spend it on things that create or preserve memories?
2 comments
That is interesting. I like having stuff, don’t get me wrong. But I don’t worry about anyone else’s stuff. Like my neighbors’ BMW convertible – I loved having a convertible and maybe I will buy another someday. But it would not be an expensive-to-maintain BMW, because cost of ownership is a big deal to me. But I am still envious of their ability to enjoy a beautiful day with the top down.
Preserving memories is…not high on my priority list though. I have tons of old photos where I have no knowledge of the site, event, or participants. It’s nice for me that I can put all my photos on a drive and my child can keep or discard whatever they prefer. My memories are absolutely contextual – something has to remind me in order for me to remember details of an experience.
Anyway, fascinating article. It reinforces that I don’t want a new job once I retire – I want to be out having new experiences.
I’m definitely all for making memories over personal possessions. We’re about to spend a stupid amount of money on an overseas bucket list trip. Other people would spend that though on a new car, and we just wouldn’t – we value the experiences and memories over possessions. Yes, for photos, because they bring the memories back. I’m lucky, I have an excellent memory for experiences, events, even most people, etc. I rarely say, “I don’t remember that.” I can’t imagine not remembering most of my life. Although sometimes that’s a bit of a curse too. And then there’s the family history of dementia …
I could go on, but you’re prompting a post on this, in due course! Thanks for the inspiration.
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