When I go off my diet and eat two donuts for breakfast, I’m performing “temporal discounting.”
Temporal discounting is the tendency to prefer a smaller reward now—like the pleasure of a couple of donuts—instead of waiting for the larger reward later—like being able to fit into the pants I bought last year. I found that definition in the November/December 2013 issue Pacific Standard.
Next time I’m tempted by donuts, I’m going to do my best to restrain from temporal discounting.
–Joy