BreakPoint Blog
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I Want It Now!  There have always been stories warning individuals about the lack of impulse control. Remember the story of "The Ant and the Grasshopper"? One worked hard and saved and stored food for the winter; the other ate what it found, sang, and sat idle with nary a thought for the long cold winter ahead. Now, in Newsweek, Sharon Begley and Jean Chatzky report that scientists and others have been studying the issue of impulse control for years. Using using advance imaging technique they are able to see the differences in the brains of people with delayed gratification and those who have to have things now. Fortunately, there is good news. People are capable of learning to delay gratification. However, with instant gratification constantly being reinforced through technology, it will be interesting to see how long it will take the next generation to learn to control their spending. |
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No, not Ralph Emerson (though my little mind certainly – and consistently - has its fair share of hobgoblins, and not solely as a carry over from last Monday).
The cartoon Waldo.
(How ironically spot-on was that? Merely a rhetorical question).
Ever since Kim posted this I’ve been reliving portions of my happy childhood. This in particular: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBL2s6DdhBQ Note the reference to “the Good Book” and “the Lord” at 2:00. Part – a large part - of the reason my childhood was “happy” is attributable to the saturation of Christianity within our culture; and mine was only slightly more than a nominally-Christian home. Oh for a return to such a relatively innocent era!
Speaking of Waldo (the other one), and in the spirit of veering fashionably, but not irredeemably (one hopes) off-topic, if consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, what does that make the frenzy for instant gratification? The bogeyman of small pineal glands?
I didn’t think so.
But as one with a hyperactive dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (until today I wasn’t sure I even had one; I always thought cortex was a Spanish conquistador), I could not let the present theme pass without recounting a joke so old it may be new to some:
Q: What did the 500 lb parrot say?
A: Polly wants a cracker. NOW.
Which underscores my original point, neatly hidden away somewhere between Oaxaca and Tenochtitlan. I can’t wait for someone to tell me what it is.
Strike that last remark. I can wait.
Your “face in the crowd”….
However, I could very well agree with people delaying buying the next installment of Twilight series...
I think on the other hand, that there should be exemptions for both coffee and books.
Heck, if he doesn't like all my stacks of books, he should just build a library onto our house. Like, right now, right?
Or how about...?
The good news, Jason and Gina, is that there's a book that helps you learn to control impulse book buying.
Even better, you can buy that book on impulse...
;-)
This morning's USA Today had an editorial by Mitt Romney, outlining spending cuts that would take effect by... 2016. So politicians seem to have the kinds of brains that seek instant gratification via spending *increases*, but are capable of delaying the gratification of *decreases*. :-/