Present vs Future Value

Despite my enjoyment of Engineering Economics in undergrad, I didn’t do well in the course. My lack of sleep caused me to have very poor recall of topics. However, I remember the concept of Present Value vs Future Value.

I ended up applying it to many other areas of life through the currency of effort. Do diet and exercise undergo something analogous to inflation? What about learning? What about love?

There’s that metaphor about beating up the toughest person you see during your first night in present. Total Present Value thinking.

There is some value (pardon the pun) in thinking this way. All actions have some future impact. The longer our outlook, the better we usually behave towards ourselves and those around us.