Why Our Brains Chase the Future

My father used to tell me an old story: When God created humans, they soon realized their lives would end in death and nothingness. This thought plunged them into despair and hopelessness. They gave up on living, each digging a grave, lying inside, and waiting for death to claim them. Then Satan appeared—perhaps at God’s nudge—and began tempting them with the vibrant pleasures of the world: the taste of food, the beauty of nature, the warmth of love, and the thrill of joy. Slowly, they climbed out of their graves and returned to life, as if those pleasures gave them a reason to go on.

According to ethical, philosophical, and religious points of view, we exist in this world to act rightly and seek the meaning of our existence. However, the fear of inevitable death can be so overwhelming that it often leads to anxiety, panic, and a sense of absurdity for many individuals.

We may thus wonder if the origins of many desires and behaviors of humans are distractions from our grim fate. Various signs in human behavior, regardless of cultural background, imply this fear, and we do something to engage in activities that help us forget it, such as addiction to alcohol, drugs, sex, work, and gambling. Despite all this, we often remain curious about what awaits us next.

Why Are We Concerned About the Future?

From ancient oracles to daily horoscopes, humans have always chased the future. We read coffee grounds, shuffle tarot cards, and stare at stars, eager to know what’s coming. Even when we claim that we do not believe in future predictions, the allure of a horoscope can still captivate us.

This is not just curiosity but a craving, a need to control the unknown. A deer does not fear winter, a bird does not build a nest in anticipation of tomorrow, and a squirrel gathering acorns appears unconcerned about the future. Instead, these actions are driven by instinct rather than a conscious life plan. However, humans have concerns about the future because they know the concept of time and the correlation of their existence in it.

Martin Heidegger, in his profound and complex book Being and Time, introduced a novel concept known as “Dasein,” which refers to a being that is involuntarily thrown into the world. Dasein knows its existence in the world and its inevitable death. According to his argument, time is the fundamental horizon for understanding being. Therefore, it appears that humans are unique entities capable of understanding the linearity of time, encompassing the past, present, and future [1].

Death Anxiety and the Effort to Overcome It

Some evidence implies that humans are not the only living beings that have self-consciousness. Some experimental studies showed that some animals can, for example, recognize themselves in a mirror.

Some studies even suggest that animals like elephants and certain whales might understand death when it happens to others in their group. However, it's not clear whether they grasp the idea that death is something that will eventually happen to them, too.

So while it's hard to suggest that consciousness and understanding of death are unique to humans, current evidence suggests that the awareness that death is coming is reserved for us alone. Fear of uncertainty and ambiguity, the awareness of inevitable death, and the desire to control are the main reasons we like to know about our future. We are all afraid of dying, even if we do not always notice it. We consciously and unconsciously know our lives are short and that we won’t live forever. Even a made-up idea about what might happen in the future can help us feel more at ease. It reminds us that we could still be alive in a future that might not even be real.

Ernest Becker's book, The Denial of Death, states that the fear of forthcoming death is a big reason why we do things, including the decision to have children, the creation of art, and the pursuit of wealth or fame. These endeavors are often referred to as immortality projects. We want to feel like we and our lives are important. Therefore, engaging in these projects motivates us to move on in life and avoid death anxiety [2].

The Role of the Reward System in Our Desire to Predict the Future

The dopaminergic system in the brain, primarily active in regions such as the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and the nucleus accumbens, plays a crucial role in generating feelings of reward, motivation, and anticipation of both positive and negative outcomes. When we anticipate something (say, we read a fortune to see what tomorrow will bring), our brains engage in a sort of “guessing game.”

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This process of guessing and anticipation, even when the outcome remains uncertain, can release dopamine. Why? Because it has been shown that dopamine is more related to the "anticipation of reward" than the reward itself [3].

When a fortune teller makes a prediction, such as "You're going to hear good news," your brain goes into a state of optimistic anticipation. This anticipation stimulates dopamine release, as you expect a positive outcome, even if it is not real.

On the other hand, if the fortune teller warns, "There's danger ahead," and you take action (for example, say a prayer or give charity), you may feel as though you have averted the danger. This avoidance of a bad outcome is also a form of reward that activates dopamine.

Even the process of fortune-telling itself—its mystery and excitement—can be a stimulant. Much like when you're gambling and waiting for the outcome of a dice roll, those moments of uncertainty can trigger a spike in dopamine.

It appears that motivations driven by our reward system are major factors in helping us ignore fear and the emptiness that arises from knowing our fate. A variety of behaviors in our lives can be understood from this perspective. These behaviors may allow us to momentarily forget our fear of death and nonexistence, motivating us to continue living. The desire to predict the future, along with other actions humans take to escape the fear of death, may be primarily driven by the stimulation of the brain's reward system, which creates the motivation to move forward in life.