The idea of long-term planning is a relatively new concept from a human evolution standpoint. We weren’t evolved to live this long and have to make p… - Benjamin P. Hardy

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The idea of long-term planning is a relatively new concept from a human evolution standpoint. We weren’t evolved to live this long and have to make plans for the very distant future. Storing food for the next month or two, sure. But, to think about stocking away a retirement nest egg in case I’m retired for 30 years? This is relatively foreign. You couple that novel aspect of planning with the idea that we’re very swayed by everything that is happening in the present. It’s very easy to ignore the long, long run, and really hard to ignore all the pulls on our attention right now. Spending more money right now and eating something delicious right now — it’s appealing to do those things because we know we get the rewards right now. But to not do those things — to not spend, to not eat unhealthily — so that our long-run selves can be better off, well, that’s a hard proposition for a lot of people because the present is so powerful.” — Dr. Hal Hershfield38