Page 114 - Hard Goals

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While I grew up in Buffalo, I probably never would have visited
Niagara Falls had it not been the most requested destination for
all the out-of-town relatives.)
So how exactly does all this relate to discounting of the
future? Well, here’s the kicker. The folks who resided in the cit-
ies didn’t evenly space their visits throughout their tenure liv-
ing there. The scientists contacted people who had moved out
of Chicago and put them through a similar battery of questions.
But this time, they focused on the timing of their visits to the
landmarks. These former residents had lived in Chicago for an
average of three years, and 40 percent of the visits they made
to landmarks occurred within the last six months of their time
there. And 18 percent of their visits actually occurred in their last
two weeks!
Visiting major landmarks is supposed to be fun. When you’re
in Chicago, trips to the Field Museum, Willis Tower (formerly
called the Sears Tower), or the architectural riverboat tour are
pretty enjoyable. And yet, without a sense of urgency (such as
short-term tourists feel), people delay and delay. When we dis-
count the future we believe the benefi ts we’ll get in the future

pale in comparison to any benefits we’ll get from doing whatever
we happen to be doing right at the moment. The psychologi-
cal calculator in our brains basically says, “Eh, the discounted
payoff’s just not big enough to stop what I’m doing and visit the
Willis Tower. I can always do that later (next month, next year).”
There’s another related psychological phenomenon taking
place here as well: people seriously overestimate how much free
time they’ll have in the future. This sounds something like,
“Well, I’m swamped right now, but in a few months I’ll have
lots more time.” On the fl ip side, to someone visiting a city for
two weeks, the future is only two weeks. Brief visitors are not
likely to discount the future enjoyment they’ll get from those