How much would you enjoy a nice big slice of pizza right now? Ignoring the fact that somehow there are people out there who don’t like pizza any time, I would be willing to guess that those of you who are hungry, would enjoy it very much. Those of you who just ate, probably wouldn’t. In fact, if you just ate so much that you are stuffed, the idea of eating pizza which you might otherwise love, might just make you feel a little sick. All animals can predict the hedonic consequences of events they’ve experienced before. But humans can predict the hedonic consequences of events they’ve never experienced by simulating those events in their minds. Scientists are beginning to understand how the brain simulates future events, how it uses those simulations to predict an event’s hedonic consequences, and why these predictions so often go awry. (Prospection: Experiencing the Future) […]
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