Do you think that time preference is biological?

[Anarchist420]

I think time preference is genetic because personality types are genetic and N types have lower time preference (or at least are the most resourceful), then introverts have lower time preference than extraverts. However, I think it is also environmental. For example, my grandmother wasn't exposed to anything really nice so her high time preference didn't show. My mother, however, was exposed to people like my dad. She is like me and has high time preference. She has outright said she cares more about her getting "her" money's worth in her life than my brothers and I inheriting anything.

To add insult to injury, she doesn't mind being in debt when it isn't necessary at all. When the next recession comes, we wouldn't be able to afford the house anymore because we would lose too much. We consume every commodity we have even though my mom wants a beach house in NC which we could rent out and easily afford now. She doesn't want to pay taxes and a 5% penalty to buy it or to get out of debt and it makes me angry... that makes me angry because we're going to owe more than we're worth.

I realize that most people are advised to go into debt while they invest, but that's wrong because the banks legally own your deposits and if they fail, which they likely will in the next 5 years (I don't think they'll be bailed out by taxes again)... then the people without any commodities are SOL.

Anyway... is my mom just overlining with public opinion, is she not bright, or both, or something else? What else?

BTW, I'd like to get a job depending on what it was and will be, but no one has wanted to hire me and my parents aren't willing to invest in anything that I want to do. The abilify also causes amotivation.

 

[OverVolt]

No idea what this thread is about, but I think perceived time slows down when people are having a conversation, to give time for people to think.

When you are having a conversation, what you are saying is generally what you are thinking, at that same speed. And you are reading body language, etc. It's alot of data of process.

When you overhear a conversation, you can have like 3 thoughts for every 1 thought spoken in the conversation.

Just figured I'd throw that out there since I have no idea what this thread is about.

 

[lightpants]

If you wouldn't mind telling us how old you are, I think it would help us understand what you are trying to say in your statement.


My bad, I just looked at your profile, your are 25.

Nope, it didn't help

 

[Maleficus]

is this like 3 copy pastas combined?

 

[xSkyDrAx]

Copy pasta from wiki:

In economics, time preference (or "discounting") is the relative valuation placed on a good at an earlier date compared with its valuation at a later date.[1]
There is no absolute distinction that separates "high" and "low" time preference, only comparisons with others either individually or in aggregate. Someone with a high time preference is focused substantially on his well-being in the present and the immediate future relative to the average person, while someone with low time preference places more emphasis than average on their well-being in the further future.
Time preferences are captured mathematically in the discount function. The higher the time preference, the higher the discount placed on returns receivable or costs payable in the future.
The time preference that an individual exhibits at any given moment is determined solely by their personal preferences. As such, if one "prefers" to save his money but cannot do so in the present, he is still considered to have a low time-preference. One of the factors that may determine an individual's time preference is how long that individual has lived. An older individual may have a lower time preference (relative to what he had earlier in life) due to a higher income and to the fact that he has had more time to acquire durable commodities (such as a college education or a house).
The time preference theory of interest is an attempt to explain interest through the demand for accelerated satisfaction.

It would have been a lot less confusing if that was summarized before everything else.

 

[Maximilian]

I began reading the OP but i perceived time to be slowing down the further i read so i stopped.

 

[Nintendesert]

If you wouldn't mind telling us how old you are, I think it would help us understand what you are trying to say in your statement.


My bad, I just looked at your profile, your are 25.

Nope, it didn't help

OP is actually nuts and needs to talk to his therapist more.

 

[fralexandr]

Time preference is sort of similar to a sustainable whaling dilemma. Whalers will make more money whaling out whales to extinction today, then allowing them to survive if assuming they invest the earnings at reasonable market rates. This is mostly due to the generation time required of large species, so similar problems occur with species that don't reach maturity early (i.e. sharks, elephants, etc).

A simple analogy would be: Do you buy a game now at full price (~$60) or wait several months to years for the price to drop to ~$20-30 or less? You will have to hold off on enjoying that item for in gaming terms, FOREVER. Stupid skyrim is still pricey .

Most people will value their enjoyment of their own resources. Your mom has almost no obligation (based on todays current social norms) to invest resources in you past college (legally high school, but most kids go to college for degrees that are worthless blah blah). As such, she does not need to leave you with ANY inheritance or stability past then.
The government has consistently been shown to favor the "irresponsible" people, such as with the housing crisis. Thus, when the market crashed, it could have been "smart" to game the system by buying a house on loan, pulling potential equity out of it to buy another house with CASH, and then lose the first "loan" based house to foreclosure. You would end up with a paid off house and only at a cost of a downpayment and hit to credit (which will eventually disappear) (I believe the gov't mandated something about not being able to go after an individuals other real properties or something).

She's living her life like tomorrow may be the last, and while not very considerate to you, it makes life more enjoyable to her at the present. Why else do people not throw trash away in trash bins, leave shopping carts all over the parking lot, and smoke right next to building entrances/windows?
Sort of like it would have been nice for the OP to describe time preference or at least edit it into his OP, since it's not too common of a term .

My parents have been kind enough to not be like the above, which is nice of them, but certainly shouldn't be expected.

It is evolutionarily coded for one's survival to favor one's self in outcomes at the present. If you don't survive now, you can't continue living/reproducing. As such most will exhibit such behavior. One can be taught by their society that certain behaviors are "good" or "bad." Bad behaviors will be shunned, and thus ostracized from the group. Those shunned will not be as successful reproductively. If the basis is at least partially genetic, that should result in fewer instances of it. There is a lot of social interactions that are based at least partially on genetics. Sharing can be considered such, as with vampire bats who will "blood share" food with "neighbors" due to the relatively highish risks of not obtaining food on any given day. Due to their small size, they have relatively high metabolisms. Thus, if they were to not share food, they might eventually die if not receiving shared food. Time preference is definitely biological if you use biological loosely. If by biological you mean genetics based as in your OP, there is likely some correlation, due to humans being "social" animals.
So, in theory parents should want to help their offspring, so that their genetics continue. Society might teach them that once offspring leave college, they're on their own (which might also have roots in genetics due to resource allocation and number of offspring over time i.e. birds, though the arbitrary cut-off point in humans varies by culture and individual significantly, i.e. birth, puberty, high school, college, never). Assuming resources aren't the limiting factor, I would suspect the time constraint of sending offspring off to start out mostly social, but if held constant, to have some effect on genetics over time (due to random chances).
There's also a desperado effect where starving/desperate individuals will take more risky actions to obtain food, resources, or mates. Which might help to explain time preference. Such as perhaps with many "middle" class families having no savings, and the keeping up with the Joneses type mentality.

 

[lxskllr]

Time slows down when I run because I'm closer to the speed of light. That's why I prefer to sit around the house, cause time passes quicker.

 

[Doppel]

What does Dr Paul say about it?

 

[Red Squirrel]

Time goes fast exponentially as you age, among other factors, even global ones that affect everyone (ever ask someone if they find this week is going by slow/fast and they agree?). The old saying goes, life is like a roll of toilet paper, the closer to the end you are, the faster it goes. Going from born to 10 years old felt longer than going from 10 to 20, for example.

Though really, it's mostly all in the head and the way we perceive it. At the atomic level time is constant.

 

[Geosurface]

Time preference has been shown in some studies to vary by genetic group.

 

[OVerLoRDI]

This thread is incompatible with alcohol. It makes no sense.

 

[the DRIZZLE]

A simple analogy would be: Do you buy a game now at full price (~$60) or wait several months to years for the price to drop to ~$20-30 or less? You will have to hold off on enjoying that item for in gaming terms, FOREVER. Stupid skyrim is still pricey .

Games are a bad example a discussion on time preference because they are not consumable, i.e. you can play them for as long as you want. A better example would be, do you want a $75 gift card for a dinner at a nice restaurant today, or a $100 gift card to the same restaurant in a year.

In reference to the OP, I believe that:

1. All humans are genetically programmed to discount the value of things in the future
2. As with many things, there probably is some innate, genetic variation in time preference among people
3. Time preference is also a function of environmental factors such as upbringing. It can also be manipulated to some degree by advertising.

 

[OverVolt]

Time goes fast exponentially as you age, among other factors, even global ones that affect everyone (ever ask someone if they find this week is going by slow/fast and they agree?). The old saying goes, life is like a roll of toilet paper, the closer to the end you are, the faster it goes. Going from born to 10 years old felt longer than going from 10 to 20, for example.

Though really, it's mostly all in the head and the way we perceive it. At the atomic level time is constant.

Shit does it keep getting worse? This is terrible news.

 

[JEDIYoda]

Somewhere in the world it is TIME to have a drink!!

 

[Puppies04]

cocaine is a hell of a drug, that is all.

 

[Broheim]

What does Dr Paul say about it?

he firmly believes it to be a states' rights issue.