1 00:00:06,280 --> 00:00:09,879 Speaker 1: So you're committed to being healthy and in shape, and 2 00:00:09,920 --> 00:00:14,000 Speaker 1: then someone offers you a cupcake and you take it, 3 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:17,440 Speaker 1: and you hold it in your hand and you know 4 00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:19,880 Speaker 1: that part of you doesn't want to eat it, but 5 00:00:19,920 --> 00:00:22,800 Speaker 1: then you take a bite and then another bite. Now, 6 00:00:22,880 --> 00:00:26,360 Speaker 1: from the brain's point of view, why did you do that? 7 00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:29,760 Speaker 1: Because you know you didn't want to do that, but 8 00:00:29,840 --> 00:00:32,800 Speaker 1: obviously some part of you did want to do that. 9 00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:35,680 Speaker 1: So we see this kind of thing all the time. 10 00:00:36,360 --> 00:00:38,840 Speaker 1: You don't want to give into some craving that maybe 11 00:00:38,880 --> 00:00:42,600 Speaker 1: has been costly to you, whether that's cupcakes or alcohol 12 00:00:43,120 --> 00:00:47,120 Speaker 1: or social media scrolling or drugs or gambling or whatever. 13 00:00:47,479 --> 00:00:50,000 Speaker 1: And then you find yourself in a situation where a 14 00:00:50,120 --> 00:00:54,280 Speaker 1: temptation is available and you take it, and you later 15 00:00:54,600 --> 00:00:57,160 Speaker 1: suffer regret and you get mad at yourself or you 16 00:00:57,240 --> 00:01:00,320 Speaker 1: cuss it yourself. Who is talking with whom when you 17 00:01:00,480 --> 00:01:03,280 Speaker 1: argue with yourself like this? The weird part is that 18 00:01:03,360 --> 00:01:06,600 Speaker 1: it's all you. So we're going to unpack this today 19 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:10,760 Speaker 1: because we all have goals and we all face temptations. 20 00:01:11,200 --> 00:01:14,520 Speaker 1: So what exactly is happening under the hood in the 21 00:01:14,560 --> 00:01:18,080 Speaker 1: brain when we act in a manner that is not 22 00:01:18,200 --> 00:01:21,080 Speaker 1: in accordance with who we want to be. I mean, 23 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:25,520 Speaker 1: computers don't have these problems. They make their calculations and 24 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:29,960 Speaker 1: boom they're done. But being human is tough. So once 25 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:33,080 Speaker 1: we understand what's happening under the hood, we'll see how 26 00:01:33,120 --> 00:01:36,640 Speaker 1: it becomes just a little easier to steer the ship. 27 00:01:37,319 --> 00:01:40,280 Speaker 1: In the last two episodes, we talked about all the 28 00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:43,480 Speaker 1: systems battling it out under the surface in your brain, 29 00:01:43,959 --> 00:01:47,360 Speaker 1: and today we're going to talk about the gap between 30 00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:50,840 Speaker 1: what you intend to do in some situation and what 31 00:01:50,920 --> 00:01:58,320 Speaker 1: you actually do when the temptation is there. Welcome to 32 00:01:58,360 --> 00:02:02,320 Speaker 1: Inner Cosmos with me David Eagleman. I'm a neuroscientist and 33 00:02:02,320 --> 00:02:06,440 Speaker 1: an author at Stanford in California, and on this podcast 34 00:02:06,520 --> 00:02:10,720 Speaker 1: we journey deep into the beautiful and complex three pound 35 00:02:10,800 --> 00:02:22,080 Speaker 1: universe that underpins your perceptions and your behavior. We saw 36 00:02:22,160 --> 00:02:26,360 Speaker 1: in the previous episodes that we typically have little to 37 00:02:26,560 --> 00:02:31,400 Speaker 1: no awareness about the factors that influence our choices. So 38 00:02:31,560 --> 00:02:34,840 Speaker 1: if someone asks you why you did this or that, 39 00:02:35,680 --> 00:02:40,600 Speaker 1: you'll reference your conscious decision like I chose this brand 40 00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:45,080 Speaker 1: because it tastes better, when in fact, you may have 41 00:02:45,160 --> 00:02:49,560 Speaker 1: been heavily influenced by marketing that you can't even consciously remember, 42 00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:53,519 Speaker 1: or by what your friends think is cool, or by 43 00:02:53,800 --> 00:02:56,760 Speaker 1: other associations you have with that product that you're not 44 00:02:56,840 --> 00:03:00,480 Speaker 1: even aware of. In other words, we don't always have 45 00:03:00,720 --> 00:03:05,400 Speaker 1: access to our real preferences why we really chose what 46 00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:10,040 Speaker 1: we chose. We only have our expressed preferences, which is 47 00:03:10,080 --> 00:03:13,359 Speaker 1: what we say we want, and that doesn't always give 48 00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:16,560 Speaker 1: us the full picture. So, for example, you might say 49 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:19,560 Speaker 1: that you want to spend more time working on a 50 00:03:19,680 --> 00:03:23,120 Speaker 1: project that's important to you, like building your new website 51 00:03:23,200 --> 00:03:26,600 Speaker 1: or getting new tires, or hitting some work deadline, But 52 00:03:26,720 --> 00:03:29,760 Speaker 1: then you click on your social media app and you 53 00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:33,400 Speaker 1: scroll through meaningless stuff for hours, and then it's too 54 00:03:33,520 --> 00:03:36,760 Speaker 1: late and you fall asleep. So people do this all 55 00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:40,160 Speaker 1: the time. They think they want one thing, but they 56 00:03:40,200 --> 00:03:44,000 Speaker 1: act in a different way. They want to stop drinking alcohol, 57 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:47,080 Speaker 1: but they think, fine, it's just one drink. Or they 58 00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:50,600 Speaker 1: want to stay loyal in their relationship, but they think, okay, 59 00:03:50,720 --> 00:03:53,880 Speaker 1: just this once, and on and on. What we say 60 00:03:53,960 --> 00:03:57,520 Speaker 1: we want, who we say we want to be doesn't 61 00:03:57,560 --> 00:04:01,200 Speaker 1: always match up with what we do. So why is 62 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:05,200 Speaker 1: it so hard to navigate ourselves? And we need to 63 00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:09,000 Speaker 1: understand this because if we want to express our best 64 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:13,040 Speaker 1: desires in life. It's critical that we get to the 65 00:04:13,080 --> 00:04:15,720 Speaker 1: core of the issue about what gets in our way, 66 00:04:16,320 --> 00:04:20,120 Speaker 1: and this requires an understanding of what's happening in the brain. 67 00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:23,720 Speaker 1: As we saw in the previous episodes, the brain is 68 00:04:23,760 --> 00:04:27,920 Speaker 1: made up of many subparts, like a society of mind. 69 00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:32,200 Speaker 1: You can't think about the brain as being one thing. Instead, 70 00:04:32,240 --> 00:04:37,240 Speaker 1: there's a neural parliament happening inside the skull, with lots 71 00:04:37,279 --> 00:04:42,039 Speaker 1: of political parties voting for different things, and these networks 72 00:04:42,040 --> 00:04:46,279 Speaker 1: in the brain battle to control your decisions, and the 73 00:04:46,279 --> 00:04:50,440 Speaker 1: outcome of the battle determines what you do. So imagine 74 00:04:50,440 --> 00:04:53,880 Speaker 1: that the waiter puts a basket of warm bread on 75 00:04:53,960 --> 00:04:57,159 Speaker 1: your table at the restaurant. Part of your brain sees 76 00:04:57,200 --> 00:04:59,800 Speaker 1: that as a rich source of energy. A different part 77 00:04:59,839 --> 00:05:02,200 Speaker 1: of your brain wants you to not eat the whole 78 00:05:02,200 --> 00:05:04,719 Speaker 1: thing so that you can keep your appetite for the 79 00:05:04,720 --> 00:05:09,440 Speaker 1: meal and more generally, avoid unnecessary weight gain. And this 80 00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:12,920 Speaker 1: is the sense in which humans can be conflicted. Now, 81 00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:16,719 Speaker 1: in the past couple of decades, neuroscientists in my lab 82 00:05:16,760 --> 00:05:21,040 Speaker 1: and hundreds of other labs have used brain imaging also 83 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:26,800 Speaker 1: called neuroimaging, to peer inside and pease out the details 84 00:05:26,839 --> 00:05:30,320 Speaker 1: of this neural parliament. And the bottom line is that 85 00:05:30,360 --> 00:05:32,839 Speaker 1: we find networks in your brain that care about different 86 00:05:32,960 --> 00:05:38,120 Speaker 1: things like social pressure or financial loss, or the emotional 87 00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:42,400 Speaker 1: experience that's predicted from something and so on. But today 88 00:05:42,800 --> 00:05:46,960 Speaker 1: we're going to concentrate on two networks that often find 89 00:05:46,960 --> 00:05:50,840 Speaker 1: themselves in conflict with one another, short term decision making 90 00:05:51,040 --> 00:05:54,839 Speaker 1: versus long term decision making. Now, sometimes these are aligned, 91 00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:58,279 Speaker 1: like both want good things and they want to avoid 92 00:05:58,320 --> 00:06:01,800 Speaker 1: pain and so on, but sometimes they end up facing 93 00:06:01,839 --> 00:06:05,000 Speaker 1: off with one another, like do I hit the gym 94 00:06:05,440 --> 00:06:08,400 Speaker 1: or do I eat the cupcake. So let's take an 95 00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:12,120 Speaker 1: example of this. Let's say I offer you one hundred 96 00:06:12,120 --> 00:06:16,440 Speaker 1: dollars right now or one hundred and ten dollars in 97 00:06:16,520 --> 00:06:20,400 Speaker 1: one week. So think about which choice you'd take. Okay, 98 00:06:20,440 --> 00:06:23,599 Speaker 1: so remember your decision on that. Now here's a new game. 99 00:06:24,040 --> 00:06:26,920 Speaker 1: I'm going to offer you one hundred dollars one year 100 00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:29,960 Speaker 1: from now, or you can choose one hundred and ten 101 00:06:30,040 --> 00:06:33,000 Speaker 1: dollars a year and a week from now. So which 102 00:06:33,080 --> 00:06:36,080 Speaker 1: are you going to choose? Most people take the one 103 00:06:36,160 --> 00:06:39,800 Speaker 1: hundred and ten dollars in fifty three weeks, because why 104 00:06:39,800 --> 00:06:42,679 Speaker 1: wouldn't you wait seven more days to get ten percent 105 00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:45,520 Speaker 1: more money. But what I want you to notice is 106 00:06:45,520 --> 00:06:49,240 Speaker 1: that these two offers are exactly the same. What I'm 107 00:06:49,240 --> 00:06:51,840 Speaker 1: saying is, if you wait one more week, you get 108 00:06:51,880 --> 00:06:55,200 Speaker 1: ten percent more. But in the first scenario, which is 109 00:06:55,240 --> 00:06:57,240 Speaker 1: one hundred dollars now or one hundred and ten in 110 00:06:57,279 --> 00:06:59,800 Speaker 1: a week, most people will take the one hundred dollars 111 00:07:00,120 --> 00:07:02,960 Speaker 1: right now, and in the second scenario they'll wait the 112 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:06,000 Speaker 1: extra week, even though there's no difference in the economics 113 00:07:06,040 --> 00:07:09,279 Speaker 1: of the offer. Now. The way to understand this is 114 00:07:09,320 --> 00:07:14,160 Speaker 1: with the notion of delayed discounting, which means that things 115 00:07:14,520 --> 00:07:18,440 Speaker 1: right now have more value to you than things that 116 00:07:18,480 --> 00:07:21,000 Speaker 1: are in the future. So, for example, when you have 117 00:07:21,080 --> 00:07:24,440 Speaker 1: something right in front of your face, like a slice 118 00:07:24,480 --> 00:07:27,280 Speaker 1: of pizza or a dessert, or a cigarette or a 119 00:07:27,320 --> 00:07:31,920 Speaker 1: lottery ticket, those things have more power than things that 120 00:07:31,960 --> 00:07:35,560 Speaker 1: are not right in front of you now. When my 121 00:07:35,680 --> 00:07:40,120 Speaker 1: colleagues Sam McClure and Jonathan Cohen asked people these sorts 122 00:07:40,160 --> 00:07:44,280 Speaker 1: of now versus later decisions in the brain scanner, they 123 00:07:44,360 --> 00:07:48,200 Speaker 1: found separate brain networks, some of which care about the 124 00:07:48,320 --> 00:07:51,480 Speaker 1: short term and others of which are involved in the 125 00:07:51,720 --> 00:07:56,040 Speaker 1: long term. And these networks short and long are often 126 00:07:56,080 --> 00:07:58,920 Speaker 1: in a situation where they're battling it out, and the 127 00:07:59,080 --> 00:08:02,559 Speaker 1: problem is that the war is biased because the short 128 00:08:02,680 --> 00:08:06,800 Speaker 1: term networks are more powerful. A temptation that is right 129 00:08:06,840 --> 00:08:10,840 Speaker 1: in front of us tends to have more power than 130 00:08:10,880 --> 00:08:13,559 Speaker 1: something that is in the distant future, and as a result, 131 00:08:13,640 --> 00:08:17,720 Speaker 1: it's very easy to get seduced by short term reward. 132 00:08:18,320 --> 00:08:21,560 Speaker 1: And this understanding about the power of the now, as 133 00:08:21,600 --> 00:08:25,400 Speaker 1: we'll see, allows us to interpret many things in the 134 00:08:25,400 --> 00:08:29,360 Speaker 1: world around us and in our own lives. So here's 135 00:08:29,400 --> 00:08:33,320 Speaker 1: an example. Near the beginning of this millennium, about eighty 136 00:08:33,400 --> 00:08:38,720 Speaker 1: percent of mortgages were subprime, which means these were loans 137 00:08:38,760 --> 00:08:42,360 Speaker 1: to customers who didn't have very good credit scores. And 138 00:08:42,400 --> 00:08:46,160 Speaker 1: by two thousand and seven, many of these borrowers found 139 00:08:46,160 --> 00:08:49,920 Speaker 1: their interest rates going up as the initial low rates expired, 140 00:08:50,360 --> 00:08:55,120 Speaker 1: and suddenly they couldn't manage the payments anymore. So delinquencies 141 00:08:55,720 --> 00:08:59,480 Speaker 1: soared and credit tightened up, and the economy melted down 142 00:08:59,520 --> 00:09:02,040 Speaker 1: in two thousand and seven. In two thousand and eight, Now, 143 00:09:02,040 --> 00:09:04,400 Speaker 1: what does that have to do with the brain. These 144 00:09:04,559 --> 00:09:09,319 Speaker 1: loans were perfectly optimized to plug into the I want 145 00:09:09,360 --> 00:09:13,160 Speaker 1: it now systems in the brain. The short term, the 146 00:09:13,200 --> 00:09:17,800 Speaker 1: idea is this, take this house, now, live better than 147 00:09:17,800 --> 00:09:21,200 Speaker 1: you thought you could afford, impress your friends and family. 148 00:09:21,720 --> 00:09:24,400 Speaker 1: At some point the rates will go up, but that's 149 00:09:24,480 --> 00:09:27,560 Speaker 1: a long way away that's obscured in the mists of 150 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:32,400 Speaker 1: the future. So by directly plugging into these short term networks, 151 00:09:32,920 --> 00:09:36,800 Speaker 1: the lenders tanked the entire economy, and in this sense, 152 00:09:36,920 --> 00:09:41,080 Speaker 1: housing bubble bursts can be understood as a neural phenomenon, 153 00:09:41,440 --> 00:09:45,120 Speaker 1: and what happens on the large scale of society also 154 00:09:45,200 --> 00:09:49,959 Speaker 1: happens at the scale of the individual. Consider athletes who 155 00:09:50,040 --> 00:09:53,319 Speaker 1: take anabolic steroids. They know that this is going to 156 00:09:53,360 --> 00:09:57,000 Speaker 1: shave years off their life, and taking the drugs comes 157 00:09:57,000 --> 00:10:00,480 Speaker 1: at the risk of losing all of one's acol if 158 00:10:00,480 --> 00:10:03,400 Speaker 1: you ever get caught. But the game is this, you 159 00:10:03,440 --> 00:10:06,120 Speaker 1: can stay alive in extra five years when you're old, 160 00:10:06,480 --> 00:10:10,240 Speaker 1: or you can win the race right now. The trophy 161 00:10:10,320 --> 00:10:13,080 Speaker 1: is going to feel really good while your death is 162 00:10:13,120 --> 00:10:17,520 Speaker 1: almost infinitely far away, and so the powerful short term 163 00:10:17,559 --> 00:10:22,360 Speaker 1: networks typically make a hands down win. Here. It's easy 164 00:10:22,400 --> 00:10:24,920 Speaker 1: to take these sorts of deals. In fact, it's so 165 00:10:25,160 --> 00:10:28,400 Speaker 1: common that it has a name in our mythology, a 166 00:10:28,640 --> 00:10:31,240 Speaker 1: deal with the devil. In a deal with the devil, 167 00:10:31,400 --> 00:10:34,760 Speaker 1: you get all sorts of good things right now, and 168 00:10:34,880 --> 00:10:38,199 Speaker 1: you know that there will be consequences later, but that's 169 00:10:38,440 --> 00:10:41,640 Speaker 1: so far off that you go for the temptation. And 170 00:10:41,679 --> 00:10:44,040 Speaker 1: you can see why it's easy to take these sorts 171 00:10:44,080 --> 00:10:48,520 Speaker 1: of deals because things that are distant are hard to 172 00:10:48,600 --> 00:10:52,040 Speaker 1: really mentally simulate, whereas with things that are right in 173 00:10:52,120 --> 00:10:55,319 Speaker 1: the now, you can just taste them, and so it's 174 00:10:55,400 --> 00:11:00,280 Speaker 1: very difficult to care about long term consequences over the 175 00:11:00,320 --> 00:11:05,000 Speaker 1: short term gain. Gambling addictions are a good example of this. 176 00:11:05,320 --> 00:11:09,679 Speaker 1: People lie about their gambling habits, they gamble more than 177 00:11:09,679 --> 00:11:12,880 Speaker 1: they can afford to lose, They borrow money to pay 178 00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:16,400 Speaker 1: for their gambling, and some people steal to fund their habit, 179 00:11:16,840 --> 00:11:19,400 Speaker 1: and it's easy to see why people can fall into 180 00:11:19,400 --> 00:11:22,839 Speaker 1: these traps. It's because the short term is so addictive. 181 00:11:22,960 --> 00:11:25,559 Speaker 1: You feel like you're just about to win this hand. 182 00:11:25,600 --> 00:11:28,000 Speaker 1: You know you're about to get the ace dealt to you, 183 00:11:28,440 --> 00:11:30,400 Speaker 1: or the cigarette's going to taste so good, or the 184 00:11:30,520 --> 00:11:34,240 Speaker 1: drink or the infidelity or whatever, and the long term 185 00:11:34,280 --> 00:11:38,560 Speaker 1: consequences are far away. In any sort of addiction, the 186 00:11:38,600 --> 00:11:42,480 Speaker 1: short term wins more often now often When we talk 187 00:11:42,520 --> 00:11:45,760 Speaker 1: about an addiction, there's a question about is this a 188 00:11:45,800 --> 00:11:48,160 Speaker 1: disease or is it a choice? And the answer is 189 00:11:48,480 --> 00:11:52,840 Speaker 1: it involves both. Typically, someone with an addiction is perfectly 190 00:11:52,920 --> 00:11:56,080 Speaker 1: able to list the reasons why they don't want to 191 00:11:56,120 --> 00:11:59,120 Speaker 1: be doing that. For example, in one of my projects, 192 00:11:59,120 --> 00:12:02,120 Speaker 1: I worked with people who were addicted to cocaine, and 193 00:12:02,160 --> 00:12:06,160 Speaker 1: they're perfectly able to list the reasons why their addiction 194 00:12:06,280 --> 00:12:10,640 Speaker 1: has cost them in terms of relationships, in terms of employment, 195 00:12:11,120 --> 00:12:15,199 Speaker 1: in terms of their money reserves, in moments of reflection. 196 00:12:15,280 --> 00:12:18,640 Speaker 1: They're totally aware that they want to make different choices 197 00:12:18,679 --> 00:12:21,280 Speaker 1: for the long term. It's just that the short term 198 00:12:21,320 --> 00:12:25,000 Speaker 1: networks are so powerful that they beat out the long 199 00:12:25,120 --> 00:12:28,520 Speaker 1: term when the temptation is there. So we've all seen 200 00:12:28,559 --> 00:12:31,360 Speaker 1: in our own lives that it's easy to get seduced 201 00:12:31,440 --> 00:12:34,520 Speaker 1: by the short term And the question is is there 202 00:12:34,559 --> 00:12:37,720 Speaker 1: a way that we can manage this aspect of ourselves. 203 00:12:38,480 --> 00:12:42,120 Speaker 1: There is, and to explain it, we're going to step 204 00:12:42,160 --> 00:12:45,600 Speaker 1: back to nineteen oh nine. In nineteen oh nine, there 205 00:12:45,640 --> 00:12:48,760 Speaker 1: was a banker named merkle Landis, and he was the 206 00:12:48,880 --> 00:12:52,040 Speaker 1: treasurer of a bank in Pennsylvania, and he came up 207 00:12:52,080 --> 00:12:56,440 Speaker 1: with a new financial idea, and he called this a 208 00:12:56,600 --> 00:13:00,480 Speaker 1: Christmas Club. And the idea was this, to see if 209 00:13:00,520 --> 00:13:03,480 Speaker 1: my patrons will give me their money all throughout the year, 210 00:13:03,880 --> 00:13:06,280 Speaker 1: and that way the bank will have capital to work with. 211 00:13:06,440 --> 00:13:10,040 Speaker 1: I'll hold onto their money all year, and I'll charge 212 00:13:10,080 --> 00:13:13,600 Speaker 1: them in early withdrawal fee, and then just in time 213 00:13:13,640 --> 00:13:17,280 Speaker 1: for holiday shopping, I'll let them have their money back. Now, 214 00:13:17,400 --> 00:13:20,280 Speaker 1: this seemed like an unlikely idea that anybody would be 215 00:13:20,360 --> 00:13:23,160 Speaker 1: willing to give up their money all year, but he 216 00:13:23,320 --> 00:13:27,200 Speaker 1: tried it, and the idea worked like gangbusters. Patrons began 217 00:13:27,679 --> 00:13:30,640 Speaker 1: socking away their money with the bank, and soon enough 218 00:13:30,679 --> 00:13:33,760 Speaker 1: all the banks were doing it. Now what surprised land 219 00:13:33,800 --> 00:13:37,000 Speaker 1: Is is that people wanted to give him their money 220 00:13:37,040 --> 00:13:40,600 Speaker 1: all year. Why because note that if they held onto 221 00:13:40,640 --> 00:13:44,520 Speaker 1: their own capital, they could get higher interest or invest 222 00:13:44,600 --> 00:13:48,640 Speaker 1: in emerging opportunities, but instead their money was now locked 223 00:13:48,679 --> 00:13:52,400 Speaker 1: in the bank with early withdrawal fees. The answer to 224 00:13:52,440 --> 00:13:55,319 Speaker 1: why people gave him their money should be obvious. They 225 00:13:55,559 --> 00:14:00,240 Speaker 1: wanted him to stop them from spending their money during 226 00:14:00,320 --> 00:14:02,840 Speaker 1: the year. If they held on to their money, they 227 00:14:02,920 --> 00:14:05,240 Speaker 1: knew they were going to blow it. So people saw 228 00:14:05,240 --> 00:14:09,559 Speaker 1: this as a way to protect themselves from their own 229 00:14:09,960 --> 00:14:13,040 Speaker 1: bad decision making. Now, by the way, a lot of 230 00:14:13,040 --> 00:14:17,440 Speaker 1: people use the IRS in this way. You claim fewer 231 00:14:17,480 --> 00:14:21,160 Speaker 1: deductions on your paycheck, and you have the IRS hold 232 00:14:21,160 --> 00:14:23,200 Speaker 1: on to your money, and then you get a big 233 00:14:23,320 --> 00:14:25,920 Speaker 1: check back in April, and it feels like free money. 234 00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:28,720 Speaker 1: But it's not free money. It's your money, and you've 235 00:14:28,760 --> 00:14:31,240 Speaker 1: simply had the government hold on to it for you 236 00:14:31,760 --> 00:14:34,200 Speaker 1: and they get to earn interest on your capital instead 237 00:14:34,200 --> 00:14:37,120 Speaker 1: of you. And any economist will tell you this is 238 00:14:37,160 --> 00:14:41,520 Speaker 1: a bad idea, But it depends on the person doing it, 239 00:14:41,960 --> 00:14:45,840 Speaker 1: because some people correctly into it that if they have 240 00:14:46,080 --> 00:14:47,960 Speaker 1: the money, it's going to burn a hole in their 241 00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:51,080 Speaker 1: pocket and they're gonna spend it. So they are granting 242 00:14:51,440 --> 00:14:58,040 Speaker 1: responsibility to someone else to protect them from themselves. Now 243 00:14:58,080 --> 00:15:03,080 Speaker 1: there's a framework to explain this fascinating human behavior. And 244 00:15:03,160 --> 00:15:06,520 Speaker 1: to explain it, I'm going to step back even further 245 00:15:06,680 --> 00:15:09,120 Speaker 1: to a story that you may be familiar with. We're 246 00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:12,320 Speaker 1: gonna go back three thousand years to the King of 247 00:15:12,440 --> 00:15:18,280 Speaker 1: Ithaca and the hero of the Trojan War Ulysses Ulysses 248 00:15:18,600 --> 00:15:21,600 Speaker 1: or Odysseus in Greek. He was coming home from the 249 00:15:21,680 --> 00:15:24,920 Speaker 1: Trojan War and on the way back, he suddenly realized 250 00:15:24,960 --> 00:15:27,800 Speaker 1: that his ship was going to pass the island of 251 00:15:27,880 --> 00:15:31,520 Speaker 1: the Sirens. Now this was an incredible opportunity because the 252 00:15:31,640 --> 00:15:36,680 Speaker 1: sirens were these beautiful creatures that sang these incredible songs. 253 00:15:37,240 --> 00:15:41,520 Speaker 1: But the songs were so beautiful that they had the 254 00:15:41,560 --> 00:15:46,320 Speaker 1: effect of hypnotizing the passing sailors, and no mortal man 255 00:15:46,440 --> 00:15:50,880 Speaker 1: could resist the sirens song. So Ulysses knew that every 256 00:15:50,920 --> 00:15:55,040 Speaker 1: ship that ever passed this way before ended up steering 257 00:15:55,120 --> 00:15:59,160 Speaker 1: toward the island and crashing into the rocks. And he 258 00:15:59,240 --> 00:16:02,440 Speaker 1: knew that he was just as susceptible as any other man, 259 00:16:02,560 --> 00:16:05,440 Speaker 1: and that he would end up dying that way if 260 00:16:05,480 --> 00:16:09,320 Speaker 1: he heard the sirens song. Now, what he could have 261 00:16:09,360 --> 00:16:12,960 Speaker 1: done is steered wide of the island, but he really 262 00:16:13,000 --> 00:16:16,520 Speaker 1: wanted to hear what the sirens sounded like, so he 263 00:16:16,680 --> 00:16:21,000 Speaker 1: came up with a plan to deal with his future self. 264 00:16:21,600 --> 00:16:23,960 Speaker 1: He was still at a great distance from the island, 265 00:16:24,440 --> 00:16:28,480 Speaker 1: but he wasn't thinking about his present rational self. He 266 00:16:28,600 --> 00:16:33,520 Speaker 1: was instead thinking about the future. Prazed short term decision making, 267 00:16:33,600 --> 00:16:36,400 Speaker 1: Ulysses and he considered who he was going to be 268 00:16:36,480 --> 00:16:40,560 Speaker 1: in that situation. So what he did is he had 269 00:16:40,600 --> 00:16:44,320 Speaker 1: his men lash him to the mast with ropes, and 270 00:16:44,400 --> 00:16:47,600 Speaker 1: he said, no matter what I do and how much 271 00:16:47,680 --> 00:16:51,640 Speaker 1: I scream and beg and cry, just keep rowing whatever 272 00:16:51,680 --> 00:16:54,960 Speaker 1: you do, don't listen to me. And he had them 273 00:16:55,040 --> 00:16:59,560 Speaker 1: fill their ears with beeswax. Now, Ulysses did this because 274 00:16:59,560 --> 00:17:02,760 Speaker 1: he care directly surmised that he would be kicking and 275 00:17:02,840 --> 00:17:07,320 Speaker 1: screaming and that future Ulysses would be in no position 276 00:17:07,359 --> 00:17:11,560 Speaker 1: to make any good decisions. In other words, the Ulysses 277 00:17:11,640 --> 00:17:16,800 Speaker 1: of sound mind structured things so that the future Ulysses 278 00:17:17,240 --> 00:17:21,400 Speaker 1: couldn't do the wrong thing. It was a deal struck 279 00:17:21,560 --> 00:17:25,240 Speaker 1: between the present and the future Ulysses, and it worked. 280 00:17:25,640 --> 00:17:28,120 Speaker 1: It saved his life and the life of all his sailors. 281 00:17:28,680 --> 00:17:30,800 Speaker 1: That he saw how he was going to act in 282 00:17:30,840 --> 00:17:34,879 Speaker 1: that scenario, and he put up barriers to protect himself 283 00:17:35,080 --> 00:17:40,320 Speaker 1: against himself. This sort of freely made decision that binds 284 00:17:40,440 --> 00:17:44,800 Speaker 1: us in the future is what we call a Ulysses contract. 285 00:17:45,320 --> 00:17:49,320 Speaker 1: And this sort of Ulysses contract explains the Christmas Club. 286 00:17:49,840 --> 00:17:52,720 Speaker 1: You lash yourself to the mass at the beginning of 287 00:17:52,760 --> 00:17:56,480 Speaker 1: the year so that your summertime self doesn't listen to 288 00:17:56,520 --> 00:17:59,560 Speaker 1: the sirens songs of commercialism and blow all your money 289 00:18:00,119 --> 00:18:03,159 Speaker 1: So let's return to what happens when you're having dinner 290 00:18:03,160 --> 00:18:05,960 Speaker 1: at someone's house and they put a delicious piece of 291 00:18:06,080 --> 00:18:08,119 Speaker 1: chocolate cake in front of you, but you're trying to 292 00:18:08,119 --> 00:18:10,679 Speaker 1: train for a marathon, and part of you is trying 293 00:18:10,760 --> 00:18:14,240 Speaker 1: not to eat that. It's not just eat or don't 294 00:18:14,240 --> 00:18:18,080 Speaker 1: eat the cake. It can be more interestingly complicated than that, 295 00:18:18,480 --> 00:18:22,280 Speaker 1: because you can make you lyss's contract with yourself. What 296 00:18:22,400 --> 00:18:24,960 Speaker 1: I always do when there's a dessert put in front 297 00:18:24,960 --> 00:18:27,679 Speaker 1: of me is I have a couple of bites, and 298 00:18:27,760 --> 00:18:30,680 Speaker 1: then in the moment before I get weak, I pour 299 00:18:31,200 --> 00:18:34,840 Speaker 1: table salt all over the cake to drown out the 300 00:18:34,880 --> 00:18:39,920 Speaker 1: siren songs. It's the me of sound mind taking a 301 00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:43,280 Speaker 1: temptation out of the way that I know my future 302 00:18:43,320 --> 00:18:46,080 Speaker 1: self will do badly with. And there are lots of 303 00:18:46,200 --> 00:18:49,200 Speaker 1: versions of this. You can say, you know what, I'll 304 00:18:49,240 --> 00:18:51,639 Speaker 1: eat the cake, but I'm going to text my buddy 305 00:18:51,680 --> 00:18:54,720 Speaker 1: right now to meet at the gym tomorrow morning, because 306 00:18:54,840 --> 00:18:57,639 Speaker 1: you know that your future self will feel lazy and 307 00:18:57,720 --> 00:19:01,040 Speaker 1: not want to go, and so you're buying yourself into 308 00:19:01,119 --> 00:19:04,080 Speaker 1: a contract with your friend who's going to show up 309 00:19:04,080 --> 00:19:06,280 Speaker 1: at the gym, so you have to be there, so 310 00:19:06,400 --> 00:19:09,000 Speaker 1: here's where we are so far. We know that there's 311 00:19:09,160 --> 00:19:12,879 Speaker 1: great seduction in the now in short term decision making. 312 00:19:13,400 --> 00:19:16,040 Speaker 1: So if you want to accomplish something in the future, 313 00:19:16,480 --> 00:19:18,600 Speaker 1: but you know there's going to be temptations that will 314 00:19:18,880 --> 00:19:21,520 Speaker 1: pull you off the road along the way, it can 315 00:19:21,560 --> 00:19:26,000 Speaker 1: be helpful to lock down a Ulysses contract with yourself. 316 00:19:26,320 --> 00:19:30,639 Speaker 1: So take something like New Year's resolutions. These rarely last 317 00:19:30,840 --> 00:19:36,760 Speaker 1: past January. Why because voluntary controls just aren't enough. If 318 00:19:36,800 --> 00:19:41,040 Speaker 1: they were, everyone would be exercising every day. But everyone's not. 319 00:19:41,320 --> 00:19:44,679 Speaker 1: And that's because it's not enough to make a resolution 320 00:19:44,880 --> 00:19:50,439 Speaker 1: with good intention. There's a difference between good intention and 321 00:19:50,520 --> 00:19:54,920 Speaker 1: a meaningful contract with yourself. So instead, when you're full 322 00:19:54,920 --> 00:19:57,760 Speaker 1: of fire at the moment, that's when you need to 323 00:19:57,800 --> 00:20:15,359 Speaker 1: think about structuring a contract with your future self. So 324 00:20:15,400 --> 00:20:19,960 Speaker 1: I'm going to suggest five actionable steps for implementing these 325 00:20:19,960 --> 00:20:24,360 Speaker 1: sorts of Ulysses contracts in your life. The first step 326 00:20:24,920 --> 00:20:30,280 Speaker 1: is to minimize temptation. You have to build fences around 327 00:20:30,320 --> 00:20:33,560 Speaker 1: you so that you're not drawn in by the sirens song. 328 00:20:34,160 --> 00:20:37,960 Speaker 1: Take as an example alcoholics Anonymous. They teach you all 329 00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:41,480 Speaker 1: sorts of steps to resist temptation, but one of the 330 00:20:41,520 --> 00:20:43,959 Speaker 1: things they teach you right away is to get all 331 00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:48,520 Speaker 1: the alcohol out of your house. Why it's because on 332 00:20:48,560 --> 00:20:52,439 Speaker 1: a festive Saturday night or a lonely Sunday night, the 333 00:20:52,640 --> 00:20:55,880 Speaker 1: mere presence of the bottle can be enough to put 334 00:20:55,880 --> 00:20:59,080 Speaker 1: you over the edge into short term decision making. And 335 00:20:59,160 --> 00:21:02,080 Speaker 1: the point is if if it's not there, then it 336 00:21:02,119 --> 00:21:06,000 Speaker 1: can't happen. This is a Ulysses contract that you're making 337 00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:08,720 Speaker 1: with yourself to get it out of the way. And 338 00:21:08,840 --> 00:21:10,800 Speaker 1: it's the same thing with programs that help you to 339 00:21:10,880 --> 00:21:13,639 Speaker 1: quit smoking. One of the first things they tell you 340 00:21:13,840 --> 00:21:17,240 Speaker 1: is not to hang out with other smokers, because you're 341 00:21:17,240 --> 00:21:19,600 Speaker 1: pretty sure you're going to say no when they offer 342 00:21:19,640 --> 00:21:23,160 Speaker 1: you a cigarette, but you won't, and so the better 343 00:21:23,280 --> 00:21:27,080 Speaker 1: idea is to not tempt temptation. And this is the 344 00:21:27,119 --> 00:21:30,880 Speaker 1: same thing with drug rehabilitation programs. One of the first 345 00:21:30,920 --> 00:21:34,080 Speaker 1: things they teach you is that you shouldn't carry more 346 00:21:34,119 --> 00:21:37,200 Speaker 1: than twenty dollars of cash in your pocket because at 347 00:21:37,240 --> 00:21:39,920 Speaker 1: some point you're going to run into somebody who tries 348 00:21:39,960 --> 00:21:42,600 Speaker 1: to sell you drugs, and if you simply don't have 349 00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:45,679 Speaker 1: any cash with you, you can't take them up on 350 00:21:45,720 --> 00:21:49,560 Speaker 1: the offer. These rehabilitation programs also advise you to get 351 00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:53,720 Speaker 1: rid of your ATM card and to entrust a friend 352 00:21:53,840 --> 00:21:56,919 Speaker 1: or a family member to control your spending for you. 353 00:21:57,280 --> 00:22:01,639 Speaker 1: In other words, don't tempt temptation. These programs expect that 354 00:22:01,720 --> 00:22:06,040 Speaker 1: at some point a person with an addiction will learn 355 00:22:06,119 --> 00:22:09,879 Speaker 1: to modify his or her decision making, even when faced 356 00:22:09,880 --> 00:22:13,840 Speaker 1: with powerful cravings. But until then, a person in recovery 357 00:22:13,920 --> 00:22:19,360 Speaker 1: needs to protect themselves from themselves. I'll give you another example. 358 00:22:19,400 --> 00:22:22,199 Speaker 1: I was speaking on a college campus recently, and I 359 00:22:22,320 --> 00:22:26,000 Speaker 1: found out that when finals week comes around, many of 360 00:22:26,040 --> 00:22:31,160 Speaker 1: the students will do this. You log into TikTok or Instagram, 361 00:22:31,400 --> 00:22:33,919 Speaker 1: and you hand your phone to your friend, and you 362 00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:36,600 Speaker 1: have that person change your password and not tell you 363 00:22:36,680 --> 00:22:38,919 Speaker 1: what the new password is, and then they log you 364 00:22:39,000 --> 00:22:41,960 Speaker 1: off and you can't get back on, and you're doing 365 00:22:41,960 --> 00:22:44,480 Speaker 1: the same thing for your friend's account, So now you're 366 00:22:44,520 --> 00:22:47,240 Speaker 1: both locked out of your accounts for the week and 367 00:22:47,280 --> 00:22:51,640 Speaker 1: you can't waste time that way. Then after finals are over, 368 00:22:52,200 --> 00:22:54,400 Speaker 1: you tell each other the new passwords so you can 369 00:22:54,440 --> 00:22:59,200 Speaker 1: log in again. So the theme here is to remove temptation, 370 00:23:00,040 --> 00:23:02,359 Speaker 1: and this sort of thinking can also apply to the 371 00:23:02,400 --> 00:23:06,119 Speaker 1: products that you buy. I recently saw an Architectural magazine 372 00:23:06,119 --> 00:23:10,960 Speaker 1: with a review of refrigerators with clear glass doors. Now, 373 00:23:11,040 --> 00:23:14,240 Speaker 1: these look great, but I suspect that for some people 374 00:23:14,280 --> 00:23:18,040 Speaker 1: these are a terrible idea because it's a constant temptation. 375 00:23:18,840 --> 00:23:21,840 Speaker 1: Imagine you have a chocolate cake on the middle shelf 376 00:23:22,280 --> 00:23:24,600 Speaker 1: when you shut the door. On a regular fridge that's 377 00:23:24,640 --> 00:23:27,520 Speaker 1: out of sight, but in the glass door fridge, the 378 00:23:27,560 --> 00:23:30,640 Speaker 1: cake is constantly staring at you. So if you're trying 379 00:23:30,680 --> 00:23:33,439 Speaker 1: to stick to a diet, don't get stared at by 380 00:23:33,480 --> 00:23:37,760 Speaker 1: a cake. I'll give one more example of minimizing temptation. 381 00:23:38,680 --> 00:23:41,679 Speaker 1: You may have heard of the marshmallow test. This was 382 00:23:41,680 --> 00:23:45,879 Speaker 1: a study run by Stanford psychologists some decades ago. The 383 00:23:45,960 --> 00:23:48,560 Speaker 1: idea is that you bring a child into a room 384 00:23:49,119 --> 00:23:51,960 Speaker 1: and you offer them one marshmallow on a little plate, 385 00:23:52,400 --> 00:23:55,360 Speaker 1: and you tell the kid you can eat this marshmallow 386 00:23:55,880 --> 00:23:58,600 Speaker 1: or you can wait for five minutes, and if you 387 00:23:59,240 --> 00:24:01,840 Speaker 1: do that you don't eat that marshmallow, then I'll give 388 00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:05,239 Speaker 1: you two marshmallows. So then you leave the room and 389 00:24:05,280 --> 00:24:09,000 Speaker 1: the child is left alone, just the kid and the marshmallow. 390 00:24:09,400 --> 00:24:12,679 Speaker 1: So some kids eat their marshmallows immediately, but about a 391 00:24:12,720 --> 00:24:15,639 Speaker 1: third of them were strong enough to resist the temptation 392 00:24:16,200 --> 00:24:19,840 Speaker 1: and wait for the larger reward. So years later, the 393 00:24:19,880 --> 00:24:23,439 Speaker 1: study team followed up with the participants and found that 394 00:24:23,800 --> 00:24:27,520 Speaker 1: children who had waited for the second marshmallow generally were 395 00:24:27,560 --> 00:24:31,360 Speaker 1: doing better in life in terms of having higher high 396 00:24:31,400 --> 00:24:35,760 Speaker 1: school scores, or lower likelihood of obesity, or more rewarding jobs. Now, 397 00:24:35,840 --> 00:24:38,639 Speaker 1: their ongoing debates about the details of the study, but 398 00:24:38,680 --> 00:24:41,480 Speaker 1: I just want to draw your attention to one important 399 00:24:41,520 --> 00:24:44,919 Speaker 1: point that's typically not even discussed, which is that the 400 00:24:45,040 --> 00:24:48,399 Speaker 1: kids who did better didn't always do so by having 401 00:24:48,440 --> 00:24:53,880 Speaker 1: a naturally stronger capacity to resist. Instead, several of them 402 00:24:53,960 --> 00:25:00,040 Speaker 1: just had better strategies for resisting. Those who resisted it 403 00:25:00,320 --> 00:25:04,280 Speaker 1: often did so because they clapped their hands over their eyes, 404 00:25:04,920 --> 00:25:07,600 Speaker 1: or they turned their chair around so that their back 405 00:25:07,760 --> 00:25:11,640 Speaker 1: was to the marshmallow. So the first lesson when you're 406 00:25:11,640 --> 00:25:15,280 Speaker 1: trying to act in accordance with your long term interests 407 00:25:15,600 --> 00:25:19,480 Speaker 1: is to do whatever you need to do to minimize 408 00:25:19,800 --> 00:25:24,680 Speaker 1: the temptation. Now, that is a foundational strategy, but it's 409 00:25:24,720 --> 00:25:27,640 Speaker 1: not always enough, and that leads us to the second strategy, 410 00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:33,080 Speaker 1: which is to put money on the line. Why, because 411 00:25:33,560 --> 00:25:37,159 Speaker 1: the loss of money stings, and even the prospect of 412 00:25:37,200 --> 00:25:42,080 Speaker 1: losing money stings, and that sort of anticipated regret can 413 00:25:42,160 --> 00:25:46,679 Speaker 1: steer you appropriately. As one example, there's a gym in 414 00:25:46,800 --> 00:25:50,200 Speaker 1: Denmark where you pay for a membership but they refund 415 00:25:50,240 --> 00:25:53,400 Speaker 1: your money as long as you show up once a week. Now, 416 00:25:53,400 --> 00:25:57,720 Speaker 1: that's a terrific idea, but most gyms aren't going to 417 00:25:57,800 --> 00:26:00,560 Speaker 1: offer this. They're of course happier if you pay for 418 00:26:00,600 --> 00:26:03,400 Speaker 1: a membership and then you don't sweat all over their equipment. 419 00:26:03,560 --> 00:26:06,680 Speaker 1: So how do you motivate yourself? Well, here's one way 420 00:26:06,680 --> 00:26:10,879 Speaker 1: to get yourself to the gym. Do a financial reality 421 00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:14,240 Speaker 1: check to consider the cost of not going each month. 422 00:26:14,800 --> 00:26:18,280 Speaker 1: Not going means that you've wasted your membership money without 423 00:26:18,320 --> 00:26:22,440 Speaker 1: getting anything in return, and any additional costs like private 424 00:26:22,480 --> 00:26:26,400 Speaker 1: training session or workout clothes that you've already bought, that's 425 00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:30,080 Speaker 1: even more cost and those come without any benefits gained 426 00:26:30,080 --> 00:26:33,000 Speaker 1: by you. So tally up the total amount that you've 427 00:26:33,000 --> 00:26:35,240 Speaker 1: spent for a little bit of shock effect that gets 428 00:26:35,240 --> 00:26:38,439 Speaker 1: you over there. And in this context, I think that 429 00:26:38,920 --> 00:26:42,800 Speaker 1: pre committing yourself to a personal trainer is a great idea. 430 00:26:43,160 --> 00:26:45,760 Speaker 1: It's not great despite the cost of money, it's actually 431 00:26:45,840 --> 00:26:48,480 Speaker 1: great because of the money that you put on the line, 432 00:26:48,840 --> 00:26:52,320 Speaker 1: and you can put money on the line. Even more explicitly. 433 00:26:52,880 --> 00:26:56,600 Speaker 1: Some colleagues of Miny Yale started a website called Stickka 434 00:26:57,000 --> 00:27:00,880 Speaker 1: with two k's. Now here's how it works. Define your 435 00:27:00,960 --> 00:27:03,720 Speaker 1: own goal, like let's say I want to lose ten 436 00:27:03,800 --> 00:27:06,840 Speaker 1: pounds by the end of April. Then you load, say 437 00:27:07,160 --> 00:27:09,639 Speaker 1: two hundred bucks onto the site with your credit card. 438 00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:13,600 Speaker 1: Then if you don't meet your goal, they keep your money, 439 00:27:14,040 --> 00:27:16,440 Speaker 1: and if you do meet your goal, the money gets 440 00:27:16,440 --> 00:27:19,160 Speaker 1: returned to you. Now this is a great idea because 441 00:27:19,200 --> 00:27:23,600 Speaker 1: you're putting something on the line, money that things if 442 00:27:23,600 --> 00:27:26,880 Speaker 1: you lose it. Now there's a closely related idea here 443 00:27:26,920 --> 00:27:31,040 Speaker 1: that's fascinating. So there was a woman who was featured 444 00:27:31,080 --> 00:27:33,840 Speaker 1: on Radio Lab a few years ago because she really 445 00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:37,719 Speaker 1: wanted to quit smoking. She was socially very liberal and 446 00:27:37,800 --> 00:27:41,679 Speaker 1: had participated in a lot of the foundational civil rights 447 00:27:41,720 --> 00:27:45,480 Speaker 1: movements and had founded the Congress on Racial Equality in 448 00:27:45,520 --> 00:27:49,399 Speaker 1: the nineteen sixties. But she couldn't quit smoking and felt 449 00:27:49,440 --> 00:27:52,640 Speaker 1: so terrible that she had smoked through her two pregnancies. 450 00:27:52,840 --> 00:27:55,919 Speaker 1: And so she told her best friend, here is a 451 00:27:56,040 --> 00:27:59,000 Speaker 1: check for ten thousand dollars, and if you catch me 452 00:27:59,160 --> 00:28:02,520 Speaker 1: smoking again, I want you to donate this check to 453 00:28:02,560 --> 00:28:07,639 Speaker 1: the KKK. Now, this was her most despised organization, and 454 00:28:07,680 --> 00:28:11,119 Speaker 1: this is what's known as an anti charity. What she 455 00:28:11,280 --> 00:28:14,840 Speaker 1: was doing was pitting these neural networks against one another. 456 00:28:14,920 --> 00:28:17,720 Speaker 1: Of course, she wants the cigarette, but now she has 457 00:28:17,760 --> 00:28:21,800 Speaker 1: to counterbalance that with how much it would hurt her 458 00:28:22,280 --> 00:28:26,080 Speaker 1: if her money funded in group that's so politically offensive 459 00:28:26,119 --> 00:28:29,840 Speaker 1: to her. And it worked. She didn't smoke anymore. So 460 00:28:30,040 --> 00:28:34,639 Speaker 1: a financial sting can fence in your behavior. And this 461 00:28:34,760 --> 00:28:39,040 Speaker 1: works even better when there's social pressure, and that leads 462 00:28:39,120 --> 00:28:43,480 Speaker 1: us to the third lesson, which is recruit social pressure. 463 00:28:45,440 --> 00:28:48,480 Speaker 1: All of this works better when your friends and colleagues 464 00:28:48,480 --> 00:28:52,000 Speaker 1: can be there to make sure that you follow through 465 00:28:52,040 --> 00:28:57,440 Speaker 1: with promises. Why because we have brain networks that really 466 00:28:57,680 --> 00:29:02,360 Speaker 1: care what other people think. So, coming back to this website, Stickcay, 467 00:29:02,840 --> 00:29:05,600 Speaker 1: once you set your goal, let's say you want to 468 00:29:05,640 --> 00:29:08,640 Speaker 1: lose ten pounds and you set the stakes two hundred dollars. 469 00:29:09,400 --> 00:29:12,800 Speaker 1: You then add a referee who will judge whether you've 470 00:29:12,840 --> 00:29:15,880 Speaker 1: met the goal or not, and you add friends to 471 00:29:15,960 --> 00:29:20,160 Speaker 1: support you. So you're recruiting social pressure this way. And 472 00:29:20,200 --> 00:29:23,320 Speaker 1: by the way, you know, even though social media gets 473 00:29:23,320 --> 00:29:25,800 Speaker 1: a bad rap for most things. It has been shown 474 00:29:25,840 --> 00:29:29,320 Speaker 1: in studies to be really helpful with this issue of 475 00:29:29,400 --> 00:29:32,640 Speaker 1: recruiting the social support that you need. So a lot 476 00:29:32,680 --> 00:29:36,280 Speaker 1: of people use social media to good effect. When they're 477 00:29:36,280 --> 00:29:40,360 Speaker 1: trying to diet. They write things like, Hey, I've passed 478 00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:43,040 Speaker 1: the two hundred pounds goal and I'm on to my 479 00:29:43,160 --> 00:29:46,000 Speaker 1: next goal of one hundred and ninety pounds, and all 480 00:29:46,000 --> 00:29:49,000 Speaker 1: their friends comment and they say things like great job 481 00:29:49,080 --> 00:29:52,240 Speaker 1: and keep going, and that sort of feedback really helps. 482 00:29:52,640 --> 00:29:55,360 Speaker 1: Everyone likes to bag on social media, but a recent 483 00:29:55,400 --> 00:29:58,440 Speaker 1: study out of the University of Georgia concluded that it's 484 00:29:58,480 --> 00:30:01,680 Speaker 1: really helpful when people are trying to lose weight because 485 00:30:01,800 --> 00:30:05,560 Speaker 1: when people join social media, they have the impression that 486 00:30:05,600 --> 00:30:10,160 Speaker 1: they're being constantly watched, and so the self control increases. 487 00:30:10,560 --> 00:30:14,000 Speaker 1: And this is all related to another strategy that people 488 00:30:14,040 --> 00:30:18,840 Speaker 1: find success with, which is committing themselves to social embarrassment 489 00:30:19,200 --> 00:30:22,400 Speaker 1: if they don't do something. So you know these fitness 490 00:30:22,520 --> 00:30:25,360 Speaker 1: boot camps where you sign up and you run around 491 00:30:25,360 --> 00:30:27,400 Speaker 1: with a group of other people early in the morning 492 00:30:27,400 --> 00:30:29,479 Speaker 1: and you get yelled at and you get in great shape. 493 00:30:29,800 --> 00:30:33,560 Speaker 1: But if you don't show up one morning, everyone jogs 494 00:30:33,600 --> 00:30:36,240 Speaker 1: to your front lawn and does jumping jacks and push 495 00:30:36,320 --> 00:30:39,160 Speaker 1: ups and screams your name until you come out. Now, 496 00:30:39,200 --> 00:30:41,720 Speaker 1: why would anybody sign up for this? It's because it's 497 00:30:41,760 --> 00:30:46,640 Speaker 1: a really smart idea. You are recruiting social pressure so 498 00:30:46,640 --> 00:30:49,160 Speaker 1: that you can stick with your goals, so that you 499 00:30:49,240 --> 00:30:52,680 Speaker 1: can steer your behavior in the direction that you want 500 00:30:52,720 --> 00:30:55,440 Speaker 1: when you're thinking about the long term about who you 501 00:30:55,520 --> 00:30:58,840 Speaker 1: want to be. And this is great because it's critical 502 00:30:58,920 --> 00:31:02,800 Speaker 1: to leverage the different networks in our brain, like what 503 00:31:02,840 --> 00:31:05,440 Speaker 1: do other people think about me if we want to 504 00:31:05,480 --> 00:31:10,240 Speaker 1: make a contract that's going to stick? Okay, Now onto 505 00:31:10,240 --> 00:31:17,400 Speaker 1: the fourth strategy, involve emotion. Something that's interesting is that 506 00:31:17,400 --> 00:31:22,880 Speaker 1: there are all these terrifically informative websites with information about 507 00:31:23,160 --> 00:31:26,440 Speaker 1: preventative health screening or stopping smoking things like that. But 508 00:31:26,520 --> 00:31:29,720 Speaker 1: you know what, the networks in your brain involved in 509 00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:34,360 Speaker 1: emotion don't care about those websites because they're just full 510 00:31:34,360 --> 00:31:38,200 Speaker 1: of facts. And that's simply not the language of these 511 00:31:38,280 --> 00:31:40,520 Speaker 1: parts of the brain. And as we saw in the 512 00:31:40,560 --> 00:31:46,240 Speaker 1: previous episode, our decisions are not all about logic or rationality. 513 00:31:46,600 --> 00:31:51,800 Speaker 1: We're not just information processing devices. Instead, our lives are 514 00:31:52,000 --> 00:31:57,520 Speaker 1: richly painted by emotion. Now, these emotional networks are very 515 00:31:57,720 --> 00:32:01,480 Speaker 1: powerful drivers of your decision made, so you have to 516 00:32:01,600 --> 00:32:05,760 Speaker 1: involve them if you want to steer your behavior. For example, 517 00:32:06,200 --> 00:32:08,240 Speaker 1: if you're trying to lose weight, you have to do 518 00:32:08,360 --> 00:32:12,600 Speaker 1: things that plug right into your emotions. One strategy is 519 00:32:12,640 --> 00:32:14,640 Speaker 1: to get out all the clothes that you wish you 520 00:32:14,680 --> 00:32:17,600 Speaker 1: could fit into, and you lay those out and you 521 00:32:17,720 --> 00:32:20,280 Speaker 1: use that as a motivator to get yourself back into 522 00:32:20,320 --> 00:32:23,800 Speaker 1: the gym. Some people take photos of themselves trying to 523 00:32:23,880 --> 00:32:27,000 Speaker 1: wear those tight clothes and they put those on their 524 00:32:27,080 --> 00:32:30,479 Speaker 1: fridge where they see them as visual reminders of what 525 00:32:30,560 --> 00:32:34,080 Speaker 1: needs to happen, and that way, when they unconsciously wander 526 00:32:34,120 --> 00:32:37,959 Speaker 1: over to the fridge door, they see those photos and 527 00:32:38,040 --> 00:32:42,120 Speaker 1: that triggers an emotional response, and that gets them to 528 00:32:42,160 --> 00:32:45,280 Speaker 1: not open the door, or at least one fewer time. 529 00:32:45,800 --> 00:32:48,920 Speaker 1: For people who are trying to quit chewing tobacco, what 530 00:32:49,000 --> 00:32:51,880 Speaker 1: they can do is put up pictures of a guy 531 00:32:51,920 --> 00:32:55,480 Speaker 1: who has had his jaw removed from mouth cancer, or 532 00:32:55,880 --> 00:32:58,560 Speaker 1: for someone trying to become a vegetarian, they put up 533 00:32:58,760 --> 00:33:02,320 Speaker 1: pictures of what what happens in a slaughter house. And 534 00:33:02,400 --> 00:33:05,920 Speaker 1: I suspect there are increasingly sophisticated ways that people are 535 00:33:05,960 --> 00:33:07,600 Speaker 1: going to be able to do this in the future. 536 00:33:07,960 --> 00:33:11,160 Speaker 1: So let's say you're trying to quit gambling, and so 537 00:33:11,280 --> 00:33:15,280 Speaker 1: the important part is to really remember how bummed out 538 00:33:15,320 --> 00:33:17,080 Speaker 1: you were the last time you lost a bunch of 539 00:33:17,120 --> 00:33:20,160 Speaker 1: money and came home from the casino. So my idea 540 00:33:20,240 --> 00:33:23,360 Speaker 1: is this, you take a video of yourself talking to 541 00:33:23,440 --> 00:33:26,440 Speaker 1: your future self and telling your future self not to 542 00:33:26,480 --> 00:33:29,120 Speaker 1: do it, and then you set up geo fencing on 543 00:33:29,160 --> 00:33:32,719 Speaker 1: your phone such that when you go near a casino, 544 00:33:33,280 --> 00:33:36,760 Speaker 1: your cell phone automatically kicks off that video and you 545 00:33:36,840 --> 00:33:41,520 Speaker 1: see yourself full of emotion, pleading with your current self 546 00:33:41,680 --> 00:33:43,720 Speaker 1: not to go in there. Okay, so now I've told 547 00:33:43,760 --> 00:33:47,360 Speaker 1: you about leveraging negative emotion to fence in your behavior. 548 00:33:47,640 --> 00:33:52,160 Speaker 1: But how about the flip side, like reward, well, associating 549 00:33:52,240 --> 00:33:55,360 Speaker 1: something with reward. This is something companies always try to do. 550 00:33:55,480 --> 00:33:59,080 Speaker 1: They associate their brand with various sorts of positive things 551 00:33:59,440 --> 00:34:03,520 Speaker 1: they want to make and association like Pavlov's dog. Remember 552 00:34:03,560 --> 00:34:06,080 Speaker 1: there's nothing rewarding about the bell, but the bell becomes 553 00:34:06,120 --> 00:34:10,319 Speaker 1: a predictor of future reward, and so companies hope to 554 00:34:10,360 --> 00:34:13,600 Speaker 1: do that with the right kind of advertising, such that 555 00:34:14,080 --> 00:34:17,360 Speaker 1: simply seeing their product or even just seeing their logo 556 00:34:17,880 --> 00:34:20,160 Speaker 1: will make you do the same thing. It'll make you 557 00:34:20,360 --> 00:34:24,160 Speaker 1: drool at their bell. But how do you leverage this 558 00:34:24,320 --> 00:34:28,840 Speaker 1: kind of linkage for yourself. Well, the answer is you 559 00:34:29,000 --> 00:34:32,360 Speaker 1: link some action that you want to do to the reward. 560 00:34:32,480 --> 00:34:35,919 Speaker 1: So every time I go to the gym, I'll get 561 00:34:35,920 --> 00:34:40,640 Speaker 1: this delicious smoothie afterwards as a reward, Or after I 562 00:34:41,040 --> 00:34:44,040 Speaker 1: finish doing this work that needs to get done, I'll 563 00:34:44,200 --> 00:34:46,000 Speaker 1: go to the beach, or I'll go to that party 564 00:34:46,120 --> 00:34:49,279 Speaker 1: or whatever. You make that linkage, so the thing that 565 00:34:49,320 --> 00:34:51,600 Speaker 1: you need to do for the long term is hooked 566 00:34:51,680 --> 00:35:10,320 Speaker 1: to a reward. And finally, for the fifth strategy, establish habits. 567 00:35:12,760 --> 00:35:15,080 Speaker 1: There's an old joke about a guy who wants to 568 00:35:15,160 --> 00:35:19,000 Speaker 1: find enlightenment and he travels for months to find this 569 00:35:19,160 --> 00:35:22,800 Speaker 1: famed guru. And when he hikes for weeks and fords 570 00:35:22,880 --> 00:35:25,520 Speaker 1: the streams and climbs the mountains and gets to the top, 571 00:35:25,920 --> 00:35:29,000 Speaker 1: he finds the guru and asks him to give him 572 00:35:29,000 --> 00:35:33,160 Speaker 1: the secret to life, and the guru says, by low 573 00:35:33,320 --> 00:35:37,320 Speaker 1: sell high. Now it works as a joke only because 574 00:35:37,360 --> 00:35:40,600 Speaker 1: the advice is so batal. If you want to make 575 00:35:40,680 --> 00:35:43,240 Speaker 1: money in the stock market, you just have to follow 576 00:35:43,320 --> 00:35:47,120 Speaker 1: the rule, and that should be easy, right, but it's not. 577 00:35:48,040 --> 00:35:52,160 Speaker 1: Lots of studies show that the majority of investors can't 578 00:35:52,280 --> 00:35:56,000 Speaker 1: follow that advice. And it's clear why the guru's advice 579 00:35:56,080 --> 00:36:00,440 Speaker 1: is difficult to follow because bitcoin rises into the thousands 580 00:36:00,480 --> 00:36:03,760 Speaker 1: and tens thousands, and everyone thinks I'm buying now because 581 00:36:03,760 --> 00:36:07,040 Speaker 1: of the fear of missing out. So the solution is 582 00:36:07,080 --> 00:36:10,760 Speaker 1: to set up rules in advance when the sirens songs 583 00:36:11,000 --> 00:36:15,719 Speaker 1: are not deafening. You can do this on stock websites 584 00:36:15,760 --> 00:36:18,680 Speaker 1: where you say, okay, if it rises to this amount, 585 00:36:18,719 --> 00:36:22,560 Speaker 1: then automatically sell or automatically buy this stock, but only 586 00:36:22,560 --> 00:36:26,399 Speaker 1: if it drops to this amount. More generally, we can 587 00:36:26,440 --> 00:36:30,040 Speaker 1: set habits throughout our lives to accomplish the things that 588 00:36:30,080 --> 00:36:33,120 Speaker 1: we want. For example, you can just be the kind 589 00:36:33,160 --> 00:36:36,560 Speaker 1: of person who says, I don't eat dessert and that way, 590 00:36:36,600 --> 00:36:38,839 Speaker 1: when the waiter comes around to take the order, you 591 00:36:38,920 --> 00:36:43,080 Speaker 1: just say, that's not my identity. Or here's another habit 592 00:36:43,120 --> 00:36:46,680 Speaker 1: you can establish. You eat fifty percent of your meal 593 00:36:46,960 --> 00:36:49,319 Speaker 1: always and you throw out the rest When you get 594 00:36:49,320 --> 00:36:51,880 Speaker 1: to the halfway point, you say, I'm the kind of 595 00:36:52,000 --> 00:36:54,719 Speaker 1: person who only eats half their meal, and you have 596 00:36:54,800 --> 00:36:57,719 Speaker 1: the way to take it away. That's similar to what 597 00:36:57,800 --> 00:36:59,959 Speaker 1: I mentioned about the way I cover my chocolate cake 598 00:37:00,080 --> 00:37:02,799 Speaker 1: in salt after a few bites, and this is a 599 00:37:02,840 --> 00:37:07,680 Speaker 1: good way to preclude the possibility of future temptation. Or 600 00:37:07,760 --> 00:37:10,800 Speaker 1: A closely related method is to get in the habit 601 00:37:11,280 --> 00:37:14,959 Speaker 1: of splitting portions with your partner. So you both order 602 00:37:15,239 --> 00:37:17,640 Speaker 1: one meal and you split it, and that's just what 603 00:37:17,719 --> 00:37:20,600 Speaker 1: you do. There's another useful habit, which is to link 604 00:37:20,719 --> 00:37:24,240 Speaker 1: a particular reward with something you have accomplished, but only 605 00:37:24,760 --> 00:37:28,440 Speaker 1: after the thing is accomplished. So, for example, you always 606 00:37:28,719 --> 00:37:32,000 Speaker 1: treat yourself to a fratpucino after you finish a gym workout, 607 00:37:32,320 --> 00:37:35,000 Speaker 1: but that's the only time you ever get to enjoy 608 00:37:35,120 --> 00:37:38,040 Speaker 1: the fratpuccino. So you're nailing down the habit in your 609 00:37:38,080 --> 00:37:41,360 Speaker 1: mind that if you want that reward, you have to 610 00:37:41,440 --> 00:37:45,920 Speaker 1: earn it first. You make it contingent. I mentioned earlier 611 00:37:45,960 --> 00:37:49,600 Speaker 1: that a person trying to battle drugs needs to not 612 00:37:49,760 --> 00:37:52,600 Speaker 1: carry more than twenty dollars in their pocket. This has 613 00:37:52,640 --> 00:37:56,120 Speaker 1: to be converted into a habit to wield power. It 614 00:37:56,160 --> 00:37:59,919 Speaker 1: has to be something automatic, not something that in person 615 00:38:00,080 --> 00:38:02,520 Speaker 1: thinks about every time they're going out. Same with the 616 00:38:02,640 --> 00:38:06,560 Speaker 1: person battling alcohol addiction. It has to become a habit 617 00:38:06,880 --> 00:38:09,960 Speaker 1: to not have alcohol in the house. It's not something 618 00:38:10,000 --> 00:38:13,719 Speaker 1: that's just considered consciously every time. And I want to 619 00:38:13,760 --> 00:38:16,640 Speaker 1: point back to an earlier lesson, which is that rules 620 00:38:16,640 --> 00:38:21,480 Speaker 1: and habits aren't always binding without social pressure, because if 621 00:38:21,520 --> 00:38:24,279 Speaker 1: you can break the rule and not get caught, then 622 00:38:24,440 --> 00:38:28,040 Speaker 1: eventually you're going to break it. So once you've made 623 00:38:28,080 --> 00:38:32,439 Speaker 1: a rule, get your friends into it, make promises where 624 00:38:32,560 --> 00:38:35,640 Speaker 1: if you break it you can be caught. And ask 625 00:38:35,680 --> 00:38:38,719 Speaker 1: your friends not to be nice, not to be charitable, 626 00:38:39,000 --> 00:38:41,879 Speaker 1: but to really hold you to it. And one more thing, 627 00:38:42,320 --> 00:38:46,799 Speaker 1: there are tricks for making the rules you set more followable. 628 00:38:47,400 --> 00:38:51,440 Speaker 1: The main thing is don't over commit. I heard a 629 00:38:51,440 --> 00:38:53,680 Speaker 1: guy named Graham Hill give a talk at TED a 630 00:38:53,719 --> 00:38:56,960 Speaker 1: few years ago in which he said, really, there are 631 00:38:57,200 --> 00:39:00,440 Speaker 1: many of us who want to be vegetarian. We all 632 00:39:00,719 --> 00:39:05,440 Speaker 1: know the reasons, from health to pollution, energy to animal cruelty, 633 00:39:05,760 --> 00:39:09,120 Speaker 1: but we find it's so difficult to follow through. So 634 00:39:09,400 --> 00:39:15,359 Speaker 1: here's the solution. Just become a weekday vegetarian. It's not 635 00:39:15,440 --> 00:39:20,359 Speaker 1: as difficult. Or some people do meatless mondays. These are 636 00:39:20,440 --> 00:39:26,000 Speaker 1: ways of easing into something without it being overwhelming. So 637 00:39:26,440 --> 00:39:30,439 Speaker 1: in summary, we have many drives, all of whom want 638 00:39:30,440 --> 00:39:34,520 Speaker 1: to be in control, and these systems are always battling 639 00:39:34,560 --> 00:39:38,160 Speaker 1: it out under the surface. And understanding this about yourself 640 00:39:38,640 --> 00:39:42,719 Speaker 1: is critical for how you think about the complex nuances 641 00:39:42,760 --> 00:39:46,520 Speaker 1: of your behavior and how you can captain your ship 642 00:39:46,719 --> 00:39:50,960 Speaker 1: much better. It's not just about knowing thyself, it's about 643 00:39:51,000 --> 00:39:55,200 Speaker 1: knowing thyselves and our job is to learn how these 644 00:39:55,239 --> 00:39:58,879 Speaker 1: systems work and how to outwit them. And I think 645 00:39:58,960 --> 00:40:01,719 Speaker 1: the way to do that this is to take inspiration 646 00:40:02,320 --> 00:40:06,720 Speaker 1: from another captain who got the memo Ulysses. He realized 647 00:40:06,760 --> 00:40:10,240 Speaker 1: that if he wanted to get something accomplished, he would 648 00:40:10,320 --> 00:40:13,920 Speaker 1: have to do something in the present in order to 649 00:40:13,960 --> 00:40:19,239 Speaker 1: successfully constrain his future behavior. He didn't just hope that 650 00:40:19,320 --> 00:40:22,200 Speaker 1: he'd make it in the face of the sirens. He 651 00:40:22,320 --> 00:40:25,560 Speaker 1: lashed himself to the mast. And there are several ways 652 00:40:25,600 --> 00:40:29,920 Speaker 1: to do this. Minimize temptation, put money on the line, 653 00:40:30,680 --> 00:40:36,520 Speaker 1: recruit social pressure, get your emotions involved, and establish habits. 654 00:40:37,080 --> 00:40:39,440 Speaker 1: So think about one thing that you know that you 655 00:40:39,560 --> 00:40:42,200 Speaker 1: want to be doing better in the future and ask 656 00:40:42,280 --> 00:40:46,520 Speaker 1: yourself how you can leverage these lessons to get there. 657 00:40:46,800 --> 00:40:49,560 Speaker 1: Because the only person who can steer the ship for 658 00:40:49,640 --> 00:40:53,879 Speaker 1: your life is you, and i'd wish you good luck, 659 00:40:53,920 --> 00:40:57,279 Speaker 1: but it's not about luck. It's about strategy. So let's 660 00:40:57,320 --> 00:41:01,120 Speaker 1: figure out how to set a contract yourself for the future. 661 00:41:04,920 --> 00:41:07,440 Speaker 1: That's all for this week. To find out more and 662 00:41:07,520 --> 00:41:10,240 Speaker 1: to share your thoughts, head over to eagleman dot com, 663 00:41:10,239 --> 00:41:14,319 Speaker 1: slash Podcasts, and you can also watch full episodes of 664 00:41:14,400 --> 00:41:18,040 Speaker 1: Inner Cosmos on YouTube. Subscribe to my channel so you 665 00:41:18,080 --> 00:41:22,040 Speaker 1: can follow along each week for new updates until next time. 666 00:41:22,160 --> 00:41:25,480 Speaker 1: I'm David Eagleman, and this is Inner Cosmos.