The gravity of the interim

A couple of weeks ago, I bought a new pair of glasses. I intended them to be a backup pair. The gold plating on my main pair has been wearing off after several years of use, so I was hoping to get them replated. Guess what? The price of gold has gone up. People don’t really do it anymore. So my gold plated glasses sit in my drawer, and my intended backup is my main pair of glasses at the moment. It reminds me of a friend, who had bought property in upstate New York City. He moved out of Brooklyn with his family, intending to stay at this property temporarily while finding a new home in New Jersey. After living upstate for a bit, the family realized they liked it, and decided to stay. Rather than pushing you towards the ideal solution, interim solutions tend to pull you in. This can be useful, because interim solutions are often marginally better than the status quo. But it introduces a chance that the interim solution takes place instead of the ideal solution you had in mind. You may…