Thinking of your future self as if it is another person has serious implications: We might choose to procrastinate and let the "other" person deal with the future consequences or problems on today's choices.

The implications of the disconnect

Derek Parkfit describes personal identity as a chain of successive selves, all linked, but each different from the previous or subsequent self. Our approach to our future self is like our attitude to other people: we see our future selves as strangers.This interferes with our ability to make good choices. Think of when you have a good New Year's resolution that you break soon after.

Our perception of ourselves

<ul><li>Psychologist Anne Wilson has manipulated people's perception of time. By using a longer timeline, such as a due date that is far off, people feel more connected to their future selves.</li><li>Hal Hershfield, an assistant professor, used a virtual reality room to show subjects a digitally older version of themselves. The result is that participants were more likely to make responsible choices for their future selves.</li></ul>

Strengthen your connection to yourself

The British philosopher Derek Parfit espoused a severely reductionist view of personal identity in his seminal book, Reasons and Persons: It does not exist, at least not in the way we usually consider it. We humans, Parfit argued, are not a consistent identity moving through time, but a chain of successive selves, each tangentially linked to, and yet distinct from, the previous and subsequent ones.

The implications of the disconnect

Similar ideas to The implications of the disconnect

Temporal discounting

Choices define us

Consequences of personality conflicts