The case for saying 'no' to new things

The innate human drive for novelty, once an evolutionary advantage for finding food and territory, has become a psychological trap in an era of digital abundance and aggressive marketing. Eric Athes, an editor at the New York Times and author of *Saying No to New*, explains how social media and retailers exploit the brain's preference for newness to create unsustainable cycles of "status consumption." To counter these impulses, individuals should align spending with personal values through written mission statements and utilize specific linguistic shifts, such as saying "I don't" instead of "I can't" to reclaim a sense of agency. Delaying purchases serves as a powerful psychological tool to signal a lack of genuine motivation, while "value-based substitution"—such as choosing a family trip over a high-tech television—replaces fleeting material joy with lasting experiential fulfillment.