Michio Kaku On How The Marshmallow Test Can Predict Success

Dec 25, 2018 by apost team

Can a marshmallow predict future success? According to world-famous physicist Michio Kaku, the answer is yes.

If you've ever taken a psychology class, you might have heard of the marshmallow test. Researchers asked children if they would like to eat one marshmallow now or wait a few hours and enjoy two marshmallows. Instinctively, some children asked for the marshmallow immediately and devoured it. Others stopped, considered their options and decided to wait.

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Impulsivity can kill success by rendering us incapable of seeing the value in patience. Delayed gratification is the process of learning to suspend present enjoyment for greater pleasure and satisfaction later. Delayed gratification is what helps us learn to plan ahead and invest in our futures, even if that investment means doing things we don't want to in the present.

If you're a one-marshmallow kind of person, how do you change? It's tough, but you can train yourself to learn the value of waiting for your marshmallows. Kaku describes how discipline yields "a pot of gold" we can all learn to appreciate. The ability to perceive, daydream and plan for the future is a marker of intelligence that Kaku believes makes humans extraordinary beings.

He describes the ability to stimulate and visualize the future as an incredible quality. The meaning of life, Kaku argues, is to reinvent ourselves, recreate ourselves and rediscover life in the process. The future is infinite, and it's up to us what we do with it.

In the end, we all must understand that life is about balance. How do you enjoy the present while planning ahead? Let us know what fuels your hopes for the future and make sure to pass this along to your friends and family.