Analysing your IQ
Please Wait
AKA: "Present Bias"
Preferring smaller, immediate rewards over larger, later rewards—even when waiting is objectively better.
Your brain has bugs. Hyperbolic Discounting is one of them. Understanding this error pattern helps you catch it before it costs you.
You choose $50 today over $100 next month. You eat the cookie now instead of the fitness goal later.
High-stakes domains (medicine, law, finance) have developed entire systems to counteract Hyperbolic Discounting. If professionals need safeguards, so do you.
This error is driven by The present is vivid and certain; the future is abstract and uncertain. Immediacy wins..
The mechanism is rooted in the present is vivid and certain; the future is abstract and uncertain. immediacy wins.. Your brain isn't broken—it's running outdated software in a new environment.
In investing: Hyperbolic Discounting leads to holding losing positions too long or selling winners too early.
In relationships: This bias causes people to interpret ambiguous signals in ways that confirm existing beliefs about partners.
In work: Hyperbolic Discounting makes it harder to update strategies when market conditions change.
In health: People ignore symptoms that contradict their self-image as "healthy" or "young."
Experiments on Hyperbolic Discounting often use controlled conditions that make the bias obvious to observers—yet participants still fall for it. This demonstrates how powerful the effect is.
Pre-commit: lock future choices in advance. Use commitment devices that make the immediate option unavailable.
Seek disconfirming evidence: Actively look for data that challenges your current belief.
Use decision journals: Write down predictions before outcomes are known, then review accuracy.
Consult diverse perspectives: People with different backgrounds spot different biases.
Implement decision rules: Pre-commit to criteria before emotionally charged situations arise.
Time-box decisions: Revisit important conclusions after a cooling-off period.
Some brains are more susceptible to this than others. Test your Discipline to find out.
Preferring smaller, immediate rewards over larger, later rewards—even when waiting is objectively better.
The alternate name "Present Bias" captures the intuitive essence of the bias. Hyperbolic Discounting is the formal psychological term, while "Present Bias" describes what it feels like in practice.
Pre-commit: lock future choices in advance. Use commitment devices that make the immediate option unavailable.
The underlying mechanism is the present is vivid and certain; the future is abstract and uncertain. immediacy wins.. Human brains evolved heuristics for speed and survival, not accuracy in modern contexts.
Yes. Intelligence doesn't provide immunity—sometimes it makes the bias worse because smart people are better at rationalizing. Awareness and structured decision processes are more protective than raw IQ.
You choose $50 today over $100 next month. You eat the cookie now instead of the fitness goal later.