First of - an amazing article. Thank you for writing it!
Second of, and this is absolutely pure speculation based on my brain that woke up minutes ago - do you think that this instant gratification has anything to do with our past where the future was pretty uncertain and chances were high that you wont’t survive long enough to see it?
The most I've read about it says that – we like certainty, and we don't like waiting :)
If our past had to do with why our brains are wired this way, I think yes, but I didn't read enough 'serious' research papers on the topic to claim for certain.
One more reason (at least in my personal case): I think the future is abstract/unreal, and then I feel strongly about now which is very real, and not so much about 5 years or even 5 months from now. That's why visualizing the future self helps so much, we empathise with them and make it more real in this moment.
Also, thanks so much Mihailo for the kind comment and reading the post :)
First of - an amazing article. Thank you for writing it!
Second of, and this is absolutely pure speculation based on my brain that woke up minutes ago - do you think that this instant gratification has anything to do with our past where the future was pretty uncertain and chances were high that you wont’t survive long enough to see it?
Great question!
The most I've read about it says that – we like certainty, and we don't like waiting :)
If our past had to do with why our brains are wired this way, I think yes, but I didn't read enough 'serious' research papers on the topic to claim for certain.
One more reason (at least in my personal case): I think the future is abstract/unreal, and then I feel strongly about now which is very real, and not so much about 5 years or even 5 months from now. That's why visualizing the future self helps so much, we empathise with them and make it more real in this moment.
Also, thanks so much Mihailo for the kind comment and reading the post :)