# Scarcity traps **URL:** \ **Category:** uncategorized\ **Created:** [September 24, 2013, 12:16am UTC](https://forum.beeminder.com/t/scarcity-traps/1451 "2013-09-24T00:16:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Waldir\_Pimenta](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.beeminder.com/waldir_pimenta/32/665_2.png) [@Waldir\_Pimenta](https://forum.beeminder.com/u/Waldir_Pimenta)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2013, 12:16am UTC](https://forum.beeminder.com/t/scarcity-traps/1451/1 "2013-09-24T00:16:23Z")
“Being poor changes your thinking about everything” - > **[Being poor changes your thinking about everything](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/09/13/being-poor-changes-your-thinking-about-everything/?arc404=true)** > > Harvard behavioral economist Sendhil Mullainathan's new book focuses on how scarcity, including poverty, changes people's psychologies. I came across this article today, which judging by the title seems to be dealing with material scarcity, but actually covers precisely the opposite: how generalizing the concept of scarcity allows insights to be ported among very different fields. The most direct non-money example (and the relevant one for this group) is the scarcity of time. In their words: “People think they’re in the scarcity trap because they have too little money, or too little time. That’s (…) not exactly true, because you’re always accomplishing the same work. You’re just accomplishing it later. (…) It’s not that you have too little time. You have the same amount of time; you’re just one step behind.” They mention the tunnel vision regarding long term consequences (essentially the present self/future self duel) and the behavior of putting off the fires, taking any bucket of water without looking at the strings attached. They explain how this shortsighted behavior is one of the factors making the scarcity and debt a cyclic problem, particularly with the example about lonely people: the very fact that we’re fighting against the perceived scarcity makes us focus on the wrong strategies and essentially shoot ourselves in the foot, driving us deeper into the loop. Anyway, I recommend reading the whole thing, as there are plenty of insights and I’m probably not explaining the ones I got well enough. In fact, please correct any misinterpretations I might have made in the message above! Cheers! ---
**Author:** ![dreev](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.beeminder.com/dreev/32/4311_2.png) [@dreev](https://forum.beeminder.com/u/dreev)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 3:46pm UTC](https://forum.beeminder.com/t/scarcity-traps/1451/2 "2013-09-26T15:46:33Z")
Thanks for pointing this out, Waldir. I’m delighted to see the behavioral economics of akrasia get more mainstream exposure. I found it frustrating that they avoided all the standard terminology like hyperbolic discounting, dynamic inconsistency, akrasia, commitment devices, etc. But “bringing things inside the tunnel” is a good phrase too. (Actually “akrasia” is the odd one out in my list there. Behavioral economists don’t use that term, only philosophers. I predict that will change though!) Speaking of which, let me add “bringing things inside the tunnel” to the list at [Synonyms for Self-Binding | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/synonyms) (ooh, and adding “preference reversal” too) On Mon, Sep 23, 2013 at 5:16 PM, Waldir Pimenta [waldir.pimenta@gmail.com](mailto:waldir.pimenta@gmail.com) wrote: > “Being poor changes your thinking about everything” - > [http://m.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/09/13/being-poor-changes-your-thinking-about-everything/](http://m.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/09/13/being-poor-changes-your-thinking-about-everything/) > > I came across this article today, which judging by the title seems to be > dealing with material scarcity, but actually covers precisely the opposite: > how generalizing the concept of scarcity allows insights to be ported among > very different fields. The most direct non-money example (and the relevant > one for this group) is the scarcity of time. In their words: “People think > they’re in the scarcity trap because they have too little money, or too > little time. That’s (…) not exactly true, because you’re always > accomplishing the same work. You’re just accomplishing it later. (…) It’s > not that you have too little time. You have the same amount of time; you’re > just one step behind.” > > They mention the tunnel vision regarding long term consequences (essentially > the present self/future self duel) and the behavior of putting off the > fires, taking any bucket of water without looking at the strings attached. > They explain how this shortsighted behavior is one of the factors making the > scarcity and debt a cyclic problem, particularly with the example about > lonely people: the very fact that we’re fighting against the perceived > scarcity makes us focus on the wrong strategies and essentially shoot > ourselves in the foot, driving us deeper into the loop. > > Anyway, I recommend reading the whole thing, as there are plenty of insights > and I’m probably not explaining the ones I got well enough. In fact, please > correct any misinterpretations I might have made in the message above! > > Cheers! > > – > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > “Akratics Anonymous” group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [akratics+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com](mailto:akratics+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com). > For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/groups/opt\_out](https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out). – [http://dreev.es](http://dreev.es) – search://“Daniel Reeves” Goal tracking + Commitment contracts == [http://beeminder.com](http://beeminder.com)