So . . . sometimes I feel like I live in a fog of perpetual disappointment. Okay, that came out a little more depressing than I meant it. What I mean to say is that we are frequently disappointed because things are not done up to our standard, on time, under budget, and so on. And a big part of the problem is not that we have expectations that are too high, but rather that our expecations are inflated by others. That's right, it's not your fault, it's theirs. Because they don't follow the common advice to underpromise and overdeliver.
I recently had such an experience where I was promised feedback on some of my work by a certain date, and the actual feedback came about two weeks later (and it wasn't even really feedback). This got me thinking about promises and delivery. In this instance I had submitted a paper to a conference and they had promised reviews and a decision by the beginning of May with the actual admission decision arriving (sans review) about May 15.
I would not have been bothered at all if the decision had been promised for May 15, or even May 31 for that matter. I don't have a strong reference point for knowing how long this particular conference takes to make its decisions. But they provided a reference point, and then didn't meet it. And that is what causes the disappointment. I have similar experiences with research assistants, students, retailers, friends, and so on.
Is this just a matter of short-term trumping long-term? Do we overpromise because it gets others off our backs and makes them happy with the target completion date or product? If so, it's kind of like a time-based Ponzi scheme, trading current happiness for future disappointment. And this would make politicians the Bernie Madoffs of this, with their constant promises and inevitable disappointments.
Looking at politics, however, gives insight into why this is so widespread. It would be an evolutionary advantage to promise big even if you don't deliver. We elect the politicians who promise us the most stuff, and it is reasonable to expect that in the past the pre-humans and humans who could promise the rosiest future would enjoy leadership and alpha status. These braggarts and snake-oil salespeople would then get prime mating standing, spreading their empty-pledge seed and influencing future generations. If the future doesn't work out the way they said it would, they may lose their life, but by then their overpromising genes have already been passed on.
That doesn't explain, though, why we still believe it when we are overpromised. It could be the aforementioned short-term/long-term thing, or it could be that eventually the project is finished and our disappointment with the lack of fulfillment of the promise turns into just everyday dealing with the outcome. Or maybe we just turn our attention to the next big thing being promised.
As everyone is aware, the world was supposed to end on May 21 (since revised to October 21, and if the rapture happens then, Hallowe'en will be bitchin'! Real demons and everything). Harold Camping promised his followers something he could not deliver (eternal salvation beginning now), didn't deliver it, and then promised again. We all look at the cult members and think they're fools, but is what they did really all that different than us believing our boss that a raise is just around the corner, or a co-worker when she tells us that the thing we need will be ready in a few hours, or a contractor when he tells us that the job will be done on time and on budget?
Well, yes, I guess in terms of degrees (we won't have wasted our time and money on a false doomsday prediction, just maybe hand a report in late), but the fundamental thinking is the same. And now that you're done this post, I may not have delivered on the promise of the title, but the next blog post will be the best you've ever read. Really!
"and if the rapture happens then, Hallowe'en will be bitchin'!"
ReplyDeleteSnorted, thank you!