Cyber Defense Magazine Global Edition for 2019

The Instant
Gratification Risk
By Javvad Malik
It feels like a different life when instant messages
were not part of daily life. If one wanted to send
a document or similar, they would resort to
posting it via traditional mail. They would then
Contrast that with today, where people not only
expect a message to be delivered almost
instantly, but they want to be notified as soon as
the recipient has opened and read it.
Is patience a thing of the past? Well, not quite.
Resisting the temptation to fulfil a desire
immediately is deep-rooted in human behaviour.
Although modern technology has made the issue
worse for some.
The Marshmallow Experiment
To understand this better, we need to take a trip
down memory lane to the 1960’s at Stanford
University where Professor Walter Mischel
placed a marshmallow in front of young children
for 15 minutes.
post it, and wait a couple of days for it to be
delivered. Then wait patiently for another few
days for a response.
The children were not forbidden from eating the
marshmallow, but, if they could resist eating it for
15 minutes, they would receive two.
This experiment was repeated over many years,
and the children followed up with. It appeared
that children who had resisted temptation were
on the whole more balanced in later life. They
displayed higher self-esteem, had better grades,
and were less likely to abuse substances.
It demonstrated that those who are able to delay
gratification make better life choices.
Instant Tech
In many ways, technology hasn’t helped those
struggling to control their biggest desires. We no
longer need to wait for photographs to be sent
off to be developed before we can see the end
result. Neither do we have to wait to
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