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Small-Scale Question Sunday for December 4, 2022

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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Are there studies that look at inter-generational reproduction fitness of behaviors deemed “high time preference”?

I find myself disagreeing with the time preference behavioral psychology model. A common example is a guy who goes into debt to finance a car, that such a behavior shows he overvalues the present. This ignores two huge longterm interests: securing confidence and securing a mate. If going into debt for a purchase increases your status and thus your self-confidence and general social engagement then it has a significant longterm effect on your health, relationships and income. More importantly, the model ignores that women love appearances, and that a primary motive for most men is finding a partner. Going into debt to secure a valuable appearance-status item may be the exact right decision for longterm happiness if it promotes a more attractive mate acquired younger, or a more reinforcing social environment among peers. Many men would choose a hotter wife and more kids with the cost of crippling debt versus less hot wife and fewer kids with a million in the bank, and in any case biologically the former is the correct decision.

There’s certainly cases where it makes sense to buy a more expensive car(like a Tesla, BMW, Audi, and the like), I just don’t think that’s how you get a wife.