Time Preference and Scarcity — a clinical lens from my forthcoming book, applied to current news on this hub.
What this lens is
Stuck in the same argument again?
Talk it through with Figlet right now. Private, judgment free, built on 16 years of couples therapy.
Most people think time preference is an economic concept. They think it is about whether you save your money or spend it. As a couples therapist, I look at time preference and see a nervous system state. I see the exact mechanism that determines whether your marriage will survive or collapse.
Time preference describes how much your present self dominates your future self. High time preference means you prioritize immediate relief because the future feels entirely unreliable. Low time preference means you sacrifice immediate comfort for future stability because you trust the ground beneath your feet. But here is what the self help world completely misses. High time preference is not a moral failure or a lack of discipline. It is an intelligent biological adaptation to an unstable environment. If your money melts, if your culture is chaotic, if your partner is erratic, your nervous system learns a very simple lesson. Do not trust the future. Take what you can now. Stay vigilant.
I see the devastating results of this adaptation in my office every week. A couple sits on my couch and they are operating entirely in high time preference. They treat their intimacy like a transaction. They want the dopamine hit of connection without the cost of vulnerability. When they fight, they do not see it as an opportunity to build trust. They see it as a threat to their survival. They burn down their relationship today just to win a five minute argument. They cannot tolerate the discomfort of repair because their biology forces them to focus on immediate survival. Two high time preference nervous systems will inevitably collapse under the weight of their own reactivity.
You cannot build a low time preference relationship with a high time preference nervous system. Sound money and stable ground make low time preference possible. The fiat system manufactures high time preference and then tries to sell you therapy and life hacks to cure the exact panic it created. Real intimacy requires scarcity and proof of work. It requires the discipline to not eat the seed corn of your relationship. It requires you to sit in the discomfort of a Tuesday night fight, drop your defenses, and do the slow, grueling work of repair.
Explore the essays below to see exactly how time preference and scarcity are shaping our culture, our money, and your own capacity to love.
Get the chapters as they are written
Time Preference and Scarcity is one of the lenses in my forthcoming book, Proof of Work: From Fiat Life to Thriving in the AI Age, with Greenleaf in 2027. The waitlist is my Substack, where the chapters are being written in public.
Essays applying this lens to current events
- Japan Bond Yield Surge Deepens Regional Bank Stock Divide: a couples therapist on time pre (2026-05-25)
Read more about the book · About Figs
Stuck in the same argument again?
Figlet is relationship coaching built on 16 years of couples therapy. Talk through what is happening the moment it matters, get a clear next step, and stop circling the same fight. Private, judgment free, ready whenever you are.
Free to start. No credit card needed.
Figs O'Sullivan
Founder · EFT couples therapist
“What I would tell you at 10pm, if I could.”