What are you going to eat for lunch tomorrow?
What are your plans for this weekend?
Where do you see yourself in five years?
Answering these questions requires looking into the future.
But when you make these predictions, what you're actually doing is accessing your memories.
Being able to accurately predict the future gives humans an evolutionary advantage.
I'm not talking about a fortune cookie or a horoscope that says your true love will find you next Tuesday.
I'm talking about the practical ability to anticipate when crops will be ready to harvest or to prepare for a meeting with your boss.
Planning beyond the present moment and even years into the future is indispensable to human life in society.
But how do we do it?
