I appreciate the discussion since I have a strong suspicion of the concept of incentivizing let alone forcing myself to do things. I don’t want to be in conflict with my past or future selves.
I think the suggestion here is good but subtle. I think the value is in having another way to model the future in detail. Asking yourself whether you’ll use that home gym enough to be happy with having made the purchase (and I’d suggest doing odds and considering yes and no and degrees—maybe) is primarily a way of thinking more clearly about the costs and benefits of acting a certain way.
It’s easy to think “I’d like to be in better shape” without thinking about all of the pain and time you’ll spend getting there. Asking yourself how much you’ll really use that gym demands doing more of that detailed modeling to get a good answer. This applies on both sides; you’ll think more about feeling better day by day and being proud of yourself as well as how much you’ll want to skip some sessions.
This is a way to pull the future forward, to have it influence your decisions in the now better.
I think humans are shortsighted on both costs and benefits, so making important decisions with a more detailed and therefore visceral imagination of both is going to be helpful. Betting on future actions not only makes sense from basic decision theory but should improve decisions by focusing thought and attention on the feelings of future consequences.
I appreciate the discussion since I have a strong suspicion of the concept of incentivizing let alone forcing myself to do things. I don’t want to be in conflict with my past or future selves.
I think the suggestion here is good but subtle. I think the value is in having another way to model the future in detail. Asking yourself whether you’ll use that home gym enough to be happy with having made the purchase (and I’d suggest doing odds and considering yes and no and degrees—maybe) is primarily a way of thinking more clearly about the costs and benefits of acting a certain way.
It’s easy to think “I’d like to be in better shape” without thinking about all of the pain and time you’ll spend getting there. Asking yourself how much you’ll really use that gym demands doing more of that detailed modeling to get a good answer. This applies on both sides; you’ll think more about feeling better day by day and being proud of yourself as well as how much you’ll want to skip some sessions.
This is a way to pull the future forward, to have it influence your decisions in the now better.
I think humans are shortsighted on both costs and benefits, so making important decisions with a more detailed and therefore visceral imagination of both is going to be helpful. Betting on future actions not only makes sense from basic decision theory but should improve decisions by focusing thought and attention on the feelings of future consequences.