How Mental Time Travel Can Make Us Better People

In late summer 1978, tensions broiled between then Egyptian President Anwar el-Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin. For nearly two weeks, United States President Jimmy Carter and scores of advisors struggled to help the leaders reach an agreement that would end decades of fighting between the two countries. The high-stakes meeting at Camp David seemed to have crumpled under the weight of the conflict as Begin reportedly called off negotiations and asked President Carter to call him a car.

While Begin was packing up to go—and leave behind the possibility of regional detente—President Carter brought in eight copies of a photograph of the three leaders together. On each he had written the name of one of Begin’s grandchildren and a note about his own hope for peace in the future.

Upon looking over these inscriptions, Begin’s countenance changed. He “put his bags down, and he said, ‘Mr. President, I’ll make one former Domestic Affairs Advisor Stuart Eizenstat in 2018. Begin then acquiesced on a central point of contention, and the Camp David Accord was reached, resulting in a formal treaty that has held ever since.