A very interesting article! It’s made me reflect on how time manipulates us in ways we don’t even notice sometimes. When you talk about how we react to an artificial clock on a discount, even if we don’t want what’s being offered, I feel called out. I’m guilty of that: sometimes I see a countdown deal and feel this urge to act, as if I’m going to miss out on something crucial. I think Keynes was right about how we get swept up in the now, that need to consume in the moment without thinking too much about what comes next. He said that in the long run we’re all dead, and it seems we live as if that’s an excuse not to plan beyond today.
What you mention about your wife getting sick right on vacation feels familiar too. It’s like our bodies know they can let their guard down when there’s a break, but at the same time, as you say, those are the moments when we most need to be well. And then there’s that idea of postponing the big problems, like the environment or inequality. I see myself in that too: I prefer the comfort of my current habits, buying what’s cheap and easy, even though deep down I know I’m contributing to that “can we keep kicking down the road” into the future. Keynes might say it’s human to choose immediate pleasure, but I wonder if we’re not taking this temporal preference too far, to the point where the cost will be paid by others—or worse, by ourselves in a few decades. Your article leaves me thinking: can we break that inertia if we’re so hooked on the now?