Psychologists and economists love to talk about the notion of two selves: present self and future self. It's a nice way to explain the tendency to have one preference about the future, but a very different preference when the future becomes the present.
Interpretation
The quote highlights the discrepancy between our present and future selves, illustrating how our preferences can change over time.
In this quote, Daniel Goldstein discusses the concept of the 'present self' and the 'future self,' emphasizing how individuals often make choices that align with their aspirations for the future, yet when those future moments become the present, their preferences may shift. This reflects the complexities of human decision-making and the struggle to align immediate desires with long-term goals, often leading to conflict and regret.
In practice
In a talk about long-term planning, one could use this quote to illustrate the importance of aligning short-term actions with long-term goals.
The great thing about behavioural psychology and economics is that they help us to see that there are actually pretty good reasons why human beings swing from greed to fear, and why we're not really calculating machines or utility-maximisers.
Part of my evolution has been to learn how painful most people's childhoods are. They grow up not liking themselves, not loving themselves. Ask people if they were lovable the minute they were born, and watch them sit back and have to think about it. One lady said, 'I suppose so.' That's painful.
The combination of rumination and negative mood is toxic. Research shows that people who ruminate while sad or distraught are likely to feel besieged, powerless, self-critical, pessimistic, and generally negatively biased.
People have a range of capacities to deal with overwhelming experience. Some people, some kids particularly, are able to disappear into a fantasy world, to dissociate, to pretend like it isnt happening, and are able to go on with their lives. And sometimes it comes back to haunt them.
It may be true in the case of autism that if you start off with a deficit in terms of empathy or mind reading, you've just got more time to devote to understanding the world by systemizing.
People don't just get upset. They contribute to their upsetness.
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