You know the marshmallow experiment? It turns out it didn’t prove what the researcher thought it did at first. What it actually proves is that children who are growing up in circumstances in which they can trust the adults around them, and know that there will be more of something later on so it’s worth waiting a bit, are able to trust what the adult tells them and wait a bit. The children growing up without that kind of stability in the world around them, they follow the old adage “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush”. It has nothing to do with self control. It has to do with accurately perceiving one’s native environment.
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