Steven Pinker -- How the Mind Works - Hampshire High Italian ...

394 J HOW THE MIND WORKSshould demand depends on how important the money is to you now, howlikely you are to get it back, and how long you expect to live.The struggle to reproduce is a kind of economy, and all organisms,even plants, must "decide" whether to use resources now or save themfor the future. Some of these decisions are made by the body. We growfrail with age because our genes discount the future and build strongyoung bodies at the expense of weak old ones. The exchange pays offover the generations because an accident may cause the body to diebefore it gets old, in which case any sacrifice of vigor for longevity wouldhave gone to waste. But most decisions about the future are made by themind. At every moment we choose, consciously or unconsciously,between good things now and better things later.Sometimes the rational decision is "now," particularly when, as thesayings go, life is short or there is no tomorrow. The logic is laid bare infiring-squad jokes. The condemned man is offered the ceremonial lastcigarette and responds, "No thanks, I'm trying to quit." We laughbecause we know it is pointless for him to delay gratification. Anotherold joke makes it clear why playing it safe is not always called for. Murrayand Esther, a middle-aged Jewish couple, are touring South America.One day Murray inadvertently photographs a secret military installation,and soldiers hustle the couple off to prison. For three weeks they are torturedin an effort to get them to name their contacts in the liberationmovement. Finally they are hauled in front of a military court, chargedwith espionage, and sentenced to death by firing squad. The next morningthey are lined up in front of the wall and the sergeant asks them ifthey have any last requests. Esther wants to know if she can call herdaughter in Chicago. The sergeant says that's not possible, and turns toMurray. "This is crazy," Murray shouts, "we're not spies!" and he spits inthe sergeant's face. "Murray!" Esther cries. "Please! Don't make trouble!"Most of the time we are pretty sure that we will not die in minutes.But we all die sometime, and we all risk forgoing the opportunity to enjoysomething if we defer it too long. In our ancestors' nomadic lifestyle,without an ability to accumulate possessions or to count on long-livedsocial institutions like depositors' insurance, the payoffs for consumptionmust have been even higher. But even if they were not, some urge toindulge now had to have been built into our emotions. Most likely, weevolved a mechanism to estimate our longevity and the opportunities andrisks posed by different choices (eating now or later, setting up camp orpushing on) and to tune the emotions accordingly.