Hyperbolic Discounting

Interesting to note that most humans will devalue or discount something that has a time delay to the result. Studies show that most people would value $15 dollars just as much as $30 if seperated by a delay in receiving the extra money. This behavior pattern seems to be universal and is the cause of a wierd sort of reverse procrastination.

This becomes a problem in a high functioning person. In research by the IMD organization, they find that high functioning individuals will devalue or discount personally important things that could have long term benefit. For example, taking a break, going on vacation, or going to the gym. The problem is that we know that these activities are beneficial but we devalue the benefit because it is not immediate. What we do instead is continue to work, because solving a problem or fixing an issue, or winning a deal has more value to us because we simply discounted the value of the healthy activities. The longer the realized value the greater hyperbolic impact.

Point is that this is bad. It causes you to work on things that have less value then long term benefit.

Guy Reams

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Share the Post:

Recent Blogs

Day 350 – Learning to Triangulate

The article explains the concept of triangulation, drawing parallels between its use in surveying and navigation to its application in evaluating information. It emphasizes the importance of cross-referencing multiple independent sources to determine truth, especially in an age of misinformation and AI-generated content. The author argues that accepting information at face value is no longer viable and that triangulation should become a default reaction.

Read More

Day 349 – The Practice of Conceptual Decomposition

This article explores the author’s accidental discovery of conceptual decomposition as a superpower. Initially used to overcome learning difficulties, this method of breaking down complex systems into understandable parts proved invaluable in their career, particularly in teaching and computer science. The author advocates for applying this technique when interacting with AI to achieve more accurate and reliable results.

Read More

Day 348 – First Things First

The author shares their experience of maintaining seven daily habits for over 3,181 days, emphasizing the importance of doing crucial tasks first thing in the morning. They advise tackling life-changing habits immediately upon waking to avoid procrastination and increase the likelihood of completion, drawing on personal examples like early morning runs.

Read More

Day 347 – What is ‘having faith?’

A spiritual leader’s daily ritual of questioning his beliefs profoundly impacted the author, leading to a decades-long quest to understand the true meaning of faith. The author concludes that faith is not mere belief, but rather an active pursuit in the absence of proof, contrasting it with complacency that can arise from dormant beliefs.

Read More
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x