Time travel: What if you met your future self?

時(shí)空旅行：如果你遇到未來的自己會(huì)怎樣？

By Hal Hershfield

What if– and it is a big what if– you could meet your future self? What a very strange question， but one that I believe is worth asking.

假設(shè)，一個(gè)大膽的假設(shè)：如果你能遇見未來的自己會(huì)怎么樣？這個(gè)問題非常奇怪，但我認(rèn)為值得一問。

I'm a psychologist and professor. I explore the reasons why we have such a hard time making long-term decisions， and how– by improving the emotional connections we have with our future selves– we can ultimately make better choices.

我是一名心理學(xué)家和教授，主要研究為什么人們?nèi)绱穗y以做出長(zhǎng)期決定，以及通過改善我們與未來自我之間的情感聯(lián)系，如何讓我們最終能做出更好的選擇。

In my research， I've learnt that we often imagine our future self as another person. That tendency can create problems for us. One way to bridge the emotional gulf is to think of future selves in more concrete and vivid ways. What's vivid is emotional， and what’s emotional can kick us into action.

在研究中，我認(rèn)識(shí)到我們經(jīng)常把未來的自己想象成另外一個(gè)人，但這種傾向會(huì)給我們?cè)斐梢恍┞闊Ｏ胍獜浐线@種情感鴻溝，一種方式便是更具體、更生動(dòng)地想象未來的自己。因?yàn)樯鷦?dòng)意味著感性，而感性的事物能促使我們采取行動(dòng)。

In one recent study， for instance， my collaborators and I partnered with a bank and found that when customers were shown age-progressed images of themselves alongside encouraging messages about saving for retirement， they were about 16% more likely to make a retirement contribution than people who solely received the encouraging messages.

例如，在最近的一項(xiàng)研究中，我和共事的研究人員與一家銀行合作，我們發(fā)現(xiàn)當(dāng)客戶既看到自己隨年齡增長(zhǎng)（而容顏?zhàn)兓┑恼掌?，也收到鼓?lì)他們?yōu)橥诵輧?chǔ)蓄的信息時(shí)，相比那些僅收到信息的人群，他們進(jìn)行退休儲(chǔ)蓄的可能性要高出約16%。

Admittedly， showing people images of their older face， or having them engage in a hypothetical conversation， are far cries from actually meeting one's future self.

誠(chéng)然，向人們展示他們老去的照片，或者讓他們開展一場(chǎng)假設(shè)性對(duì)話，都與真正見到未來的自己相去甚遠(yuǎn)。

However， the truth is， you don't need to wait for time travel or advanced AI for answers that you can act on. Through my research as a psychologist， I've learnt that simply taking a bit of time to picture this meeting can help you make better choices now. All you need is a little imagination， and the willingness to put yourself in the shoes of a person you currently treat as a stranger.

然而實(shí)際上，你并不需要等待時(shí)空旅行技術(shù)或者先進(jìn)的人工智能來給你一個(gè)可以采取行動(dòng)的答案。作為一名心理學(xué)家，我在研究中發(fā)現(xiàn)，你只需要花一點(diǎn)時(shí)間想象一下與未來的自己會(huì)面，就能幫助你在當(dāng)下做出更好的選擇。你所需要的只是一點(diǎn)想象力和一份意愿，愿意為你現(xiàn)在視為陌生人的那個(gè)人設(shè)身處地地著想。