A boy was leaning against a stone torii gate, eating shaved ice

In contrast to the many food stalls lining the precincts of the shrine, the number of people praying at the shrine pavilion of Kashima Shrine in Ooi was small. Most people were busy eating food bought from food stalls rather than visiting the shrine hall. The boy in the photo was leaning against the torii gate and munching on shaved ice. It would be ideal for people to eat food from the food stalls after visiting the shrine. However, it is no wonder that people are more interested in food that will fill their stomachs right away rather than visiting a shrine where they do not know when they will receive the benefit of their visit. The time preference rate is high.

The time preference rate reminds me of an experiment called the marshmallow experiment, in which children's self-control determines their future. The higher the ability to control one's impulses and emotions and persevere with immediate needs for the sake of achieving future achievement, the higher the probability of social success. In other words, it seems that children with lower time preference rates are more likely to be socially successful in the future. This is not out of line with the general feeling, and I think everyone would agree with it. What is interesting is what happens next. Although this is a very prominent experiment, a follow-up study conducted in the late 2010s reported that it was difficult to replicate. The researchers found that factors of education and family environment had a greater impact on future success than did self-control. It seems to me that the low reproducibility of the marshmallow test is not as well known as the high profile of the marshmallow test, since the idea that family environment and education have a greater impact than a child's self-control is so far-fetched.

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