The closer you get to the goal, generally the harder people and animals work to finish that goal. That's what led us then to think, okay, you know, those rats, those mice, those people are seeing a finish line, right? And it's when they're maybe seeing that finish line, seeing that reward, seeing the goal they're hoping to accomplish, that is what's leading them to, you know, try harder to invest more so that they can finish it off.

What if we induce that illusion of proximity? What if we can induce a visual illusion, a visual experience that approximates what the real rats and mice were actually experiencing as they got closer? That is what is happening. That's what's happening visually when we create that narrowed focus of attention.

When we tell people, imagine there's a spotlight on the shorts of the person up ahead or the stop sign that you're seeing. It induces an illusion of proximity that then is responsible for people trying harder, walking faster, feeling that it defied their expectations and that it wasn't as bad as they thought it would be.