Do you despair at the po-faced researchers who take time and money to discover what most of us could have told them in the first place?
The latest study to catch my eye was carried out for The Children's Society by psychologist Dr Cliff Arnall in which he concluded a day out is better for youngsters than playing with the latest gadget at home.
Simple events such as a trip to the seaside, or camping with friends, are more likely to be looked back on in adulthood as pleasurable experiences, said Dr Arnall, after quizzing 30,000 adults.
Have we really become such a consumer-led society that we don't instinctively know a shared experience with friends and family excites the senses more than cuddling up to a Play Station?
It doesn't have to be successful outings that are remembered, either. I'm sure, like me, you can recall times with your families which you would have expected your brain bank to have jettisoned long ago.
Mine include a coach trip to Weston Super Mud (very exciting for landlocked Brummies), when we scarpered back by train before even sniffing the sea because I was so travel sick on the journey out.
Or there was the time my dad led us down the steep slopes of the Lickey Hills like a prophet leading us to the promised land, after a thunderstorm threatened our tomato sandwiches.
Our own daughter tells Mr F and I of simple outings she remembers fondly, from a regular 'healthy' airing on the broken-down swings near Cranford Park after school, to Chessington Zoo at the weekend, in the days when the only ride was a tired train clanking round a rather dull animal compound.
Fisher Junior and her friends (she used to bring most of Hayes on holiday with her) still love recalling our static caravan in Lyme Regis, even though most of their stay entailed wandering about in the pouring rain in over-long plastic macs like orphans from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
The height of excitement was playing crazy golf, or watching the locals strapped into strange contraptions as they jumped off the Cobb in a 'flying' contest, but these are experiences our little girl, now grown-up, remembers with affection.
THIS week and every week, BARBARA FISHER looks at issues that affect us all - the issues that get you talking. You can join in by emailing barbarafisher@ trinitysouth.co.uk
