Luke was supposed to keep a journal all summer, but when school starts again in the Fall, he realizes he only did one day. At the start of the summer, Luke’s focus on the present imposed large negative externalities on him when it’s time to turn in the work later in the summer. People who highly value present consumption are said to have high discount rates because they don’t care about future outcomes as much. This hyperbolic discounting can result in some inconsistencies when Luke looks back and realizes how much trouble he’s about to be in.

See more: discounting, irrationality, negative externalities, present oriented, procrastination, time inconsistency