Saved by Jay Matthews
Edge.org
Each one of us has what I think of as a ‘marshmallow brain’, which can become fixated on short-term desires and rewards. But we each also possess an ‘acorn brain’, which allows us to envision distant futures and work towards long-term goals. The interplay between these two time zones in our minds is a good part of what makes us distinctively human.
Roman Krznaric • The Good Ancestor: How to Think Long Term in a Short-Term World
This is why people have a tough time saving for retirement or staying on a diet or getting regular prostate exams—the brain believes that the person who would benefit from those difficult choices isn’t the same one making those choices.
Peter H. Diamandis, Steven Kotler • The Future Is Faster Than You Think
In the same way we might imagine travelling back in time to meet our younger self and giving him or her much-needed advice from the future, we can play the same game a different way around: what might our future, older self have to offer us now? How will we improve and learn in ways that will benefit us? And viewing our current and future lives as
... See moreDerren Brown • Happy: Why More or Less Everything is Absolutely Fine
The mathematician and physicist Freeman Dyson makes a related observation about human society: The destiny of our species is shaped by the imperatives of survival on six distinct time scales. To survive means to compete successfully on all six time scales. But the unit of survival is different at each of the six time scales. On a time scale of year
... See moreStewart Brand • The Clock Of The Long Now: Time and Responsibility
