DeepSummary
The episode begins with Dr. Laurie Santos discussing how we often make choices in the present that negatively impact our future selves, such as spending money instead of saving, eating unhealthy food instead of exercising, and overcommitting ourselves. She introduces UCLA professor Hal Hershfield, an expert on the disconnect between our present and future selves.
Hershfield describes experiments showing that we tend to view our future selves as separate individuals rather than extensions of ourselves. He discusses techniques like writing letters to our future selves and using virtual reality to interact with aging versions of ourselves, which can encourage us to make choices benefiting our long-term wellbeing.
Santos then visits researchers at MIT who have created a chatbot allowing people to converse with simulations of their future selves based on AI trained on their values and goals. Santos chats with her simulated future self, gaining insights into balancing present needs with long-term aspirations while avoiding burnout from overly sacrificing for an idealized future.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- People tend to make choices in the present that neglect or even undermine the interests of their future selves.
- We view our future selves as separate from our current identities, failing to properly consider their needs.
- Techniques like writing letters to future selves and interacting with AI/VR simulations can help bridge this gap.
- Balancing present fulfillment with investment in long-term goals is crucial for overall wellbeing.
- Over-sacrificing for an idealized future self can paradoxically undermine happiness in both timeframes.
- Finding compromises that reasonably serve both present and future priorities is advisable.
- Being more self-aware of our tendency to project current preferences onto future selves can improve decision-making.
- Giving our future selves more "voice" in present choices through future self-advocacy can make us happier.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “One thing that has helped me is setting boundaries and making time for self care activities such as meditation, exercise, and spending quality time with loved ones.“ by Future Laurie (AI simulation)
- “We may be motivated to do things now that will put our future selves in a really good position, but we can also dial things back and still obtain that same goal, right? We can dial things back and spend less time on work and more time with our relationships.“ by Hal Hirschfeld
- “We think we're simulating our future self feelings, but in doing so we're kind of relying a little too heavily on what we're feeling right now, and not appreciating that our preferences, our likes, our dislikes may change over time.“ by Hal Hirschfeld
- “Ironically, we may be making life worse for ourselves now and possibly worse for ourselves later.“ by Hal Hirschfeld
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Episode Information
The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos
Pushkin Industries
7/1/24
We often do things now that will make our lives more difficult or stressful in the future. We spend money, when we should save. We eat junk food, when we should exercise. We agree to commitments, when we should protect our free time. We act so thoughtlessly that it's almost like we hate our future selves.
Dr Laurie asks UCLA's Hal Hershfield to help her find the happiness balance between listening to what she wants now, and the preferences she might have in the future. And she steps into an AI time machine to get some happiness advice for herself decades from today.
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