The greatest achievement of the

d episodes that do not exist in

at allows us to think about the
n is an anticipation machine,

human brain is its ability

the realm of the real, and
future. As one philosopher
and making future is the

to imagine objects an
it is this ability th
noted, the human brai
most important thing it does.

Immediate, local, personal future: Nexting.

Reading involves prediction which leads to fluency
Children can't answer the what do you want to be question because nexting forces
them to answer what they would like to be now. Adukts can get out of this loop
Prefrontal cortex: planning and anxiety
Thinking about the future is mostly pleasant day dreaming. people even delay gra
tification to get time for day dreaming. The more you day dream the less likely
you are to go for it. Bias: We imagine that the things that are easier to imagi
ne are likelier to happen. Two reasons for anticipating terrible things: nticipa
ting unpleasant events can minimize their impact. We can use fear as a motivatin
g tool.
We want to know what is likely to happen so that we can do something about it. T
he surprisingly right answer is that people find it gratifying to exercise contr
ol not just for the futures it buys them, but for the exercise itself. Craving for
control: Patients house plants, Old age home volunteers. Illusions of control:
Lottery numbers and betting amounts, dice throws: pre thrown vs new throw. Sport
s and Live TV
Emotional Happiness: Irreducible and probably the purpose of all life
Nozick's happiness machine