End-of-History Illusion

Apparently, individuals, at all ages, believe that they are unlikely to change much in the future (in terms of personal growth and maturity), even in the face of evidence that they’ve grown in the past. The psychologists who studied this effect gave it a cool name: the end-of-history illusion.

The psychology of your future self by Dan Gilbert on TED

Personally, I am skeptical that this is a problem, even if the bias was shown to be real. There’s a danger to thinking too much about the future: we may forget to live in the now. We might miss the chance to let opportunity and luck take us to all kinds of interesting places.

One thought on “End-of-History Illusion”

  1. First, I am not sure that is even true. Many of us are likely to believe we will be quite different in the future, having somehow become a repository of wisdom even without having worked towards it.
    Second, it is a moot point. Does it even matter what we believe about the future? The future will happen when it is time. If we do all the right things in the present, that is all we need to do.

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