The truth is that even though humans are far better at long-term planning than all other animals, we are not particularly good at it. This should not come as a surprise. The human brain is the product of an evolutionary process that unfolded over hundreds of millions of years. So most of our neural baggage comes from animals that lived, cognitively speaking, in the immediate present. Consequently, as a species, humans are still learning to perfect our newly acquired skills to better balance the allure of immediate gratification with the benefits of delayed gratification.
