Kitchen Gadgets: Want or Need?

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If you see a new kitchen gadget advertised, then it probably doesn’t take you long for the desire to set in.

 

You know you don’t technically need it. Not really. You have been managing fine without it and you’ve yet to light the house, or yourself, on fire – so you must be doing something right. You’ve been cooking for awhile now, so you pretty much have the important kitchen items in residence and you know how to use them, too. You can produce competent meals. That new gadget isn’t going to do anything for you.

 

Oh, but you want it.

 

Adverts are designed to hook us in, employing all manner of psychological tactics to make us think that we can’t live without what they’re selling. They have ways of making us bypass the intelligent side of our brain; the side that argues back and insists on being rational. No, when we see an advert, we have no time or use for rational thinking – all we know is what we want.

 

So, we go on a fanciful trip of lying to ourselves. Call it willful delusion, or just the catch of finding yourself in the unfortunate position of being an “ad man’s dream”. If someone has got something to sell, you can find yourself a buyer even though you had never until that moment considered such an item necessary.

 

This applies across life of course, but there is something about kitchen gadgets that few of us are able to resist. It makes sense, in a way. Cooking is something you can’t avoid doing unless you want to exist on takeout (and let’s be clear, for health reasons, you shouldn’t exist on takeout!). Even the most proficient chef has moments when they just want something quick and easy with minimal cleaning required – and for those of us who aren’t so skilled with their meal prep, the idea of a gadget that makes things both quicker and simpler is pretty hard to resist.

 

So the willful delusion begins.

 

“I will definitely use it.”

 

Who knows, maybe you will! Maybe said gadget genuinely does fill a need in your life, and it will be as good as the advert promises and then some. That does happen, after all!

 

In most cases however… no, you won’t. What’s actually going to happen is you use it for a couple of weeks, tell yourself how well you have done for using it… and then you’re going to forget that it exists. We’ve all been there!

 

“But I really need it!”

 

Here’s the thing: did you really need it ten minutes before you saw the advert? Or is it the ad that has convinced you you need it?

 

There are legitimate calls for some gadgets. For those with arthritis, an automatic can opener can be a blessing, for example. In most cases however, you will come up with a solution to match the problem you see in front of you.

 

“I acknowledge the above is true, but I want it anyway.”

 

Ah, it happens. You’re human! Make the most of your new gadget and try to remember it exists – you never know, this one might just be the perfect fix for the problem you never knew you had.

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