To Increase Your Enjoyment of Old Things, Try This Method

Ed O’Brien and Robert Smith, of the University of Chicago and the Ohio State University, respectively, have suggested, in a paper presently in press, that one way to recapture one’s first-time experiences is to use unusual methods of consumption.

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Background

Remember the first time you tasted a wonderful new dish, tried a new tasty flavor of ice cream, or took that first sip of your now favorite beverage? Do you still experience the same level of enjoyment from consuming these foods? Perhaps not.

When people consume something new, they are more likely to pay attention to it and to experience it more intensely. According to O’Brien and Smith, these “immersive” and engrossing experiences intensify our enjoyment.

People have tried to recapture those experiences in different ways, one of which being through the practice of mindfulness. A concept in mindfulness that is relevant to our discussion is beginner’s mind, which refers to experiencing each moment as if it were a new one. Jon Kabat-Zinn, a popularizer of mindfulness in the U.S., describes beginner’s mind thus:

An open, “beginner’s” mind allows us to be receptive to new possibilities....Are you able to see the sky, the stars, the trees, the water, and the rocks as they are right now, with a clear and uncluttered mind? Or are you actually seeing them only through the veil of your own thoughts, opinions, and emotions?²

There is another possibility, aside from the actual first time experiences, or the use of beginner’s mind to recreate the first-time experience. This third possibility requires that we make certain changes so as to maximize potential enjoyment from the experience; specifically, we need to try using novel, unconventional methods of consumption.¹

But would that really work? That is what O’Brien and Smith intended to find out.

The study

In a series of four studies, the authors examined whether eating food or watching videos in unusual (as opposed to normal) ways can help recreate the level of enjoyment of first-time experiences.

In the first experiment, one group of volunteers were asked to eat popcorn with their hands, and another group, with chopsticks. The results showed that consuming popcorn in the unusual way (i.e. using chopsticks) was more enjoyable than using the conventional method.

When repeated, however, both methods resulted in equal level of enjoyment. This finding was in agreement with the researchers’ hypothesis because eating popcorn with chopsticks is not necessarily better than eating with one’s hands; it is, however, a unique and more enjoyable first-time experience.

In the second study, participants were asked to drink water either normally or in one or many unconventional ways (e.g., drinking water from a martini glass, lapping up water like a cat, etc).

The results revealed that participants who drank each sip of water in different unconventional ways found it more enjoyable than both those who used the same unconventional way for each sip and those who drank normally.

In the third investigation and the fourth (which was partly a replication of the third), participants watched a one-minute video of a motorcycle ride (from the driver’s perspective) three times in a row. For the third viewing, some watched the video as before, some watched it upside-down, and some through goggles formed with their hands and while moving their head along with the motorcycle’s movements and turns.

The researchers discovered that those using the unconventional method (hand goggles) enjoyed the video more than those watching it normally; yet this was not true for watching the video upside-down. Why? Presumably because watching the video upside-down prevented immersion in the experience and instead interfered with the enjoyment of the movie.

Implications

In summary, then, here is a new method, aside from mindfulness, to recapturing the enjoyment of first-time experiences. And the good news is that this method is fairly easy and cheap, and can be applied to our own lives.

How?

Think back to what you found pleasurable in the past, and look for novel and unusual methods to revitalize your experiences and boost your level of enjoyment. But do not pick methods that interrupt your experience (e.g., like watching a video upside-down) and prevent full immersion.

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Source: RitaE/Pixabay

So, for instance, try eating your M&Ms with a teaspoon or eating your fries without using your hands. And if eating vegetables has lost its enjoyment, next time make a vegetable kebab. Use your imagination. Go wild. And enjoy!