I, on the other hand, am completely devoid of any desire to take or pass tests or perform for grader's/test takers, yet subjectively, I'd rate myself out to the

I, on the other hand, am completely devoid of any desire to take or pass tests or perform for grader's/test takers, yet subjectively, I'd rate myself out to the right on the delayed gratification ability. The first created/creates significant problems in engaging with formal schooling: when I was younger I began simply not turning up to class or participating in assessment. It created the awkward situation where I did do a national standardised test one day and topped the year group for maths, but received a failing grade for maths class. In uni, the pattern essentially repeated itself. I (correctly) percieved the test taking and assessment as pedagogically irrelevant, and deviated from the course curriculums where my interests and own study took me. Delayed gratification however IS an important skill. One that, almost mathematically by definition, must give an advantage since it has an absolute advantage over the alternative. A person capable of delayed gratification has a greater range of possible options and strategies to achieve their goals, and can always opt for immediate gratification where it is appropriate, whereas a person incapable of delayed gratification can partake in no such choice. If empirical attempts to measure the effect of delayed gratification show no advantage therefore (assuming successful experiment design), there's actually another troubling possibility: society is (now) basing the distribution rewards and outcomes on those behaviours that are not determined by delayed gratification.