Of two minds
We resolve to exercise more, but end up in front of the TV at the end of the day instead of at the gym. We promise to clean up our diet and then overindulge at the office holiday party. We pledge to put money away for retirement, but end up maxing out credit cards that charge 14 percent interest. According to David Laibson, Robert I. Goldman Professor of Economics at Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), we struggle with ourselves in these ways and others because of the conflict between our two minds — one patient and forward-looking, another impatient and bent on immediate gratification. Laibson presented this model of “multiple selves” to an enthusiastic audience that filled Yenching Library on Dec. 2 for the 2010-11 Mind Brain and Behavior Distinguished Harvard Lecture. Laibson began his presentation by engaging the audience in an experiment: Imagine you’re at a spa right now....