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After reading this, I had a few questions as to the choices we'd make as adults.
Say you were hungry and in search of a place to eat dinner. You decide on a place you're definitely going, but there's a twist:
- If you wait an hour, your meal is provided at half price. Would you take this offer?
- If you wait two hours, your meal is free. Only caveat is you can't take anything with you. Would you take this offer?
I'm not sure how valid your results are going to be. Because some people value their time more than others... which may or may not correlate at all with the ability to delay gratification.
When I was younger I had more time and less money... I would've taken that deal. These days I have more money and less time. So I'd just buy the meal rather than waste two hours.
I'd probably just buy the meal because it would save a lot more money that way. I eat like a bird so many times I end up taking leftovers to go and that saves me another day or more.
Of course it depends on what it is. My usual Ruby Tuesday's meal I finish whereas Outback I don't finish the fries.
Even if I finished it all though I think I would still buy it because if I was hungry enough I don't think I could wait two hours because I've waited before to eat and having gastritis if I even wait an hour too long my stomach starts cramping. That's probably partially how I got it in the first place is by starving myself. It's okay for a few days but if you start making a habit of it you cost yourself a lot in health (me even moreso because I use herbs and supplements for my physical ailments and they're more expensive than prescriptions since they're not covered by insurance)
Quote:
Originally Posted by turkey-head
I'm not sure how valid your results are going to be. Because some people value their time more than others... which may or may not correlate at all with the ability to delay gratification.
When I was younger I had more time and less money... I would've taken that deal. These days I have more money and less time. So I'd just buy the meal rather than waste two hours.
Most times when I'm going out to dinner, I have plans, therefore, also a reservation. My decision is highly dependent on if we're talking Michelin-star dining or something more casual - not necessarily cheap - and whether I had to remain at the restaurant the entire time, or if I was free to roam, simply delaying addressing my hunger.
After reading this, I had a few questions as to the choices we'd make as adults.
Say you were hungry and in search of a place to eat dinner. You decide on a place you're definitely going, but there's a twist:
- If you wait an hour, your meal is provided at half price. Would you take this offer?
- If you wait two hours, your meal is free. Only caveat is you can't take anything with you. Would you take this offer?
Guess I've been lucky enough that saving the cost of a meal doesn't mean that much. Money and the value of it is reserved for more important decisions than gratification.
Yeah I don't see how that would be relevant at all unless you were struggling for money. I wouldn't wait 5 minutes for a discount on anything, if I went out to eat I have the money to afford that decision. I don't care about petty expenses like meals out. There was a time, I did, and I watched every penny and rarely ate out. Now, I'm enjoying my life and I'll worry about the bigger picture purchasing decisions not amounts of money I won't even notice missing.
Let's say I had a hearty breakfast and you offer the lunch at 11-12. I will definitely be willing to wait for the first hour, and maybe the second hour for the freebie.
Let's say I had nothing to eat and lunch is originally scheduled at 1, with discounts coming at 2 and 3. I probably wouldn't wait then.
i remember seeing "delayed" gratification testing done on 5 and 6 year olds. The adult would tell them they had to do this building task with lego blocks, and they should not eat that cup cake on the same table until they finished. The lego build would take at least 15 minutes to complete. The adult left the room..... Many of the kids "failed".... would start looking behind them, their little pudgy fingers would move the cupcake plate closer and closer, some would start with scooping some frosting off. The gist of this was: if they had the stamina to withstand temptation and possessed the "adult" trait of delaying gratification, they were deemed more intelligent.
oh phooey. eat when you are hungry and eat what the hell you want. food is not to be measured in terms of how long one can delay eating and your stamina to eschew it. lol.... maybe in this case we ex-chew?
This setup seems to be more about economics than delayed gratification.
Perhaps if the reward for waiting was something you really wanted or needed...for instance, I often have to delay eating because I have a medical test scheduled. The "reward" of being able to take the test and get the results is more important than eating right now.
Thank for your responses, it's helping me to ask better questions, not conflate one -logy with another, and is very insightful.
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