In the 1960s and 1970s, Walter Mischel offered children at a Stanford preschool one treat right away, or two if they waited. Follow-ups suggested the most patient kids did better as teenagers. In 2018, a replication with over 900 more diverse children found, among those whose mothers hadn't finished college, a link half as strong, which shrank by another two-thirds once family background and early abilities were accounted for. Patience at age four is no crystal ball.
Remembering is not replaying a recording — it is rebuilding. Each time you recall a memory, it becomes temporarily malleable and can be altered before being stored again. That is why two people can sincerely remember the same event… differently.
In 2003, Johnson and Goldstein compared European countries. Where you must tick a box to become a donor, consent rates ranged from 4% to 28%. Where you're a donor by default unless you opt out, they topped 85%. People aren't more generous on one side; most simply stick with whatever option was chosen for them.