It tells us, for example, that we should be cautious about inferring preferences from behavior. We might see the busy person neglect his children and conclude that he does not care as much about his kids as he does about his work. But that may be wrong, much as it would be wrong to conclude that the uninsured farmer does not particularly care about the loss of his crop to the rains. The busy person may be tunneling. He may value his time with his children greatly, but the project he is rushing to finish pushes all that outside the tunnel. He may look back later in life and report a great deal
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