Oddbean new post about | logout
 I don't know if I agree to this. It seems incredibly arbitrary. 🤔 Also, humans will tend to post-rationalize everything.

The woman getting pregnant by a stranger got pregnant, after all. How many women follow the Contraception Rules their whole life and end up run-through, but barren?

Similarly, being foolhardy looks idiotic... unless you triumph. Then you're courageous. 
 The point flew right over your head lmao nvm 
 No, I'm just not presuming that the person not having unprotected sex is preferring the future, or vice-versa. We don't actually know that.

Perhaps they are simply timid, unattractive, dor have a low libido. 
 It doesn’t matter what they prefer or what they think. You can consider it a spectrum and even say that it can fluctuate but those behaviors are still high time preference. The reason I don’t do fentanyl is because I know it can ruin my life in the future. It won’t ruin it in the present. The present would be a great experience on fentanyl and if I didn’t care about my future I would do it. 

And fixing those issues requires a lower time preference because it takes hard work. Going to the gym, practicing social skills, and improving libido require a low time preference because the rewards of all those activities are not recognized in the present. The fruits of that work are recognized in the future IF the person can consistently do that work.