All the notes were taken directly from “Thinking in Bets” by Annie Duke.

– – –

Recruiting past-us and future-us

Temporal discounting: We are willing to take an irrationally large discount to get a reward now instead of waiting for a bigger reward later.

Imagine how future-us is likely to feel about the decision or by imagining how we might feel about the decision today if past-us had made it. Every 10-10-10 process starts with a question. . . . What are the consequences of each of my options in ten minutes? In ten months? In ten years?”

Recruiting past-us and future-us in this way activates the neural pathways that engage the prefrontal cortex, inhibiting emotional mind and keeping events in more rational perspective. This discourages us from magnifying the present moment, blowing it out of proportion and overreacting to it.

What has happened in the recent past drives our emotional response much more than how we are doing overall. That’s how we can win $100 and be sad, and lose $100 and be happy. The zoom lens doesn’t just magnify, it distorts.

***

Thanks for reading. Did you like the content you just read? You can help me spread these ideas by sharing this blog post through your social media channels or sending it as a direct message to your friends.