What evidence of our short-sighted tendencies exists?

People won't spend more money on a more expensive air conditioner even if it means that they'll pay smaller energy bills for years down the line. Today - the immediate responses of your reptilian brain - tends to win out over tomorrow - the prefrontal cortex, even though not having enough for tomorrow is the source of stress that wears on us like a three-ton boulder on your shoulders. It's the same concept that derails most diets: The pleasures of nutritional sins today (hotdog? cheese cake?) win out over the benefits of the way nutritional foods will take care of us tomorrow (more energy and less pain tomorrow if you eat blueberries and walnuts today?). Most likely your prefrontal cortex often doesn't get consulted in the mall or the food court; you rely on your reptilian brain. That evolutionary problem wouldn't be a problem if credit cards and leverage didn't exist now. But they do, and the lack of consulting your prefrontal cortex often causes you to overspend and thus be burdened with financial stress.