Why We Can't Resist Instant Gratification - And How to Fix It

Why We Can't Resist Instant Gratification - And How to Fix It

Our brains are hardwired to value immediate rewards over future ones, driving poor financial decisions, health behaviors, and even climate inaction. This cognitive bias, called temporal discounting, stems from evolutionary pressures that prioritized survival today over uncertain tomorrows. While individual strategies like pre-commitment devices and episodic future thinking can help, addressing society-wide challenges requires policy interventions that acknowledge our cognitive limitations.