Instant Gratification

Instant Gratification and Delay Discounting

Instant gratification is the unfortunate result of our primate brain. In the past you would choose the definite now over the idealistic future. This is still with us. Our brain chooses the reward now rather than the better reward later. The later may not ever come, we may die before then, so why would we wait for it?

But in the current world no result can ever be instant and good. Causing us constant miscalculations. Humans are not made to follow through. We are designed for quick wins. Quick winners in the world of delayed gratification. So we take shortcuts: Social media, medicine, cheating, credit cards. All tools to fight the delayed nature of this world.

Impulse buying tells us the whole story

Relationship between impulse buying and instant gratification tendencies showed that e-commerce shops started the trend of impulse buying. The paper found that Happiness and boredom proved to be the biggest reasons for impulse buying. You’re not gonna make yourself less happy in order to not impulse buy, but you can fight boredom.

How instant gratification changed over time

Instant gratification had its ups and downs over time. Its golden age was in primate times, where the now was way more important than later. As ancient times arrived and culture was enriched due to Greek philosophy, people learned to be mindful of instant gratification and to want what they have rather than want new things.

In medieval times poverty was high, and people had no resources, thus instant gratification rose once again and people struggled to prioritise delayed rewards. The industrial evolution is what got us into where we are now, a peculiar middle ground where we are mindful of what we buy… sometimes. We’re less mindful than in ancient times, but more mindful than during medieval times.

As the 21st century welcomed us, the onslaught of marketing means that impulse buying and instant gratification once again rose to power.

How to prevent instant gratification

It is easy to go down the rabbit hole while reading different strategies and tactics to prevent instant gratification. resources like “I Want it Now”: The Psychology of Instant Gratification provide the 6 strategies you can use.

I found that the best way to tackle instant gratification is in James Clear’s book Atomic Habits. Don’t tackle instant gratification, tackle the habits. Scrolling on your phone or browsing for things you don’t need. I also highly recommend prioritising cash over digital payments. the Paper Relationship between impulse buying and instant gratification tendencies showed that friction-less transactions have a high impact on impulse buying tendencies. The practice of mindfulness and meditation helps with figuring out what you truly, and books like Essentialism by Greg McKeown Can help you with exactly that.

Conclusion

We live in a world that constantly Drifts to low performance and we are always diminished to the lowest common denominator. David Foster Wallace had it figured out a long time ago, we take the easiest path first, and every media is downgraded to that easiest path. Unless we make mindful changes to our individual lifestyle, we too will become the lowest common denominator.