Even though we like to think of ourselves as nice people, we sometimes kind of treat strangers like crap. And that sort of means we end up treating our future selves like crap too. I know this was something that researcher Emily Pronin and her colleagues had looked at. She mixed together a concoction of soy sauce and ketchup and water then asked her subjects, how much of this would you be willing to drink for me for science? They say about three tablespoons or so. So people are not being very nice to this other stranger. But here's the most amazing part: My future self will be perfectly fine with doing that, just like that stranger would.
Who do we volunteer to run a gruelling half-marathon? Who do we expect to give up sugar, or quit drinking? Who do we demand clears out the garage in the middle of summer?
Ourselves. Mean, right?
Turns out we make demands on our future selves that our present selves would think are unrealistic or unreasonable. And the reason we do it is because our minds are really bad at anticipating the wants and needs we'll have in a week, a month, or a year from now. And that harms our happiness.
Talking before a live audience in Somerville, MA, Dr Laurie Santos and Harvard professor Jason Mitchell explore how we can be kinder to both our present and future selves.
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