Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

How can we get willpower back once it has been depleted?

scienceandreligiontoday.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–27 of 27 posts

Re: How can we get willpower back once it has been depleted?

#21

Post by 5l »

mdaniel wrote: post #6
danneu wrote: post #3

Article forgot to mention amphetamine.

I am actually interested in the eventuality of caffeine (which they did mention) causing adrenal depletion. Those findings would apply even more violently to a more violent stimulant such as amphetamine. I agree with their idea that one can get a spurt of willpower (and brainpower in general, in my experience) from a stimulant but the crash can be debilitating.

And no matter how much caffeine you have, unless you're taking it intravenously, you're spiking and crashing constantly throughout the day.

Re: How can we get willpower back once it has been depleted?

#23

Post by Estragon »

caesarion wrote: post #18
Estragon wrote: post #12

One of the things I've learned from meditation is that the "depletion" model of willpower is bogus. The Happiness Trap is a good model for the development of willpower. http://www.thehappinesstrap.com/

What exactly do you mean when you say you've learned "the 'depletion' model of willpower is bogus"?

There is always capacity to choose not to act on a reactive impulse. The notion that that capacity is a finite resource which can be depleted is an illusion.

Re: How can we get willpower back once it has been depleted?

#24

Post by caesarion »

Estragon wrote: post #23
caesarion wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What exactly do you mean when you say you've learned "the 'depletion' model of willpower is bogus"?

There is always capacity to choose not to act on a reactive impulse. The notion that that capacity is a finite resource which can be depleted is an illusion.

Resisting reactive impulse is one thing, but do you not find that you have a limit when it comes to willing yourself to do difficult things? Assuming that these things come one after another, of course. I'm willing to agree that capacity for hardship is infinite in a sense, but I would also contend that it gets harder and harder to call on your willpower/self-control if you've already had to do so many times in the same day.

Re: How can we get willpower back once it has been depleted?

#25

Post by ahoyhere »

Estragon wrote: post #23
caesarion wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What exactly do you mean when you say you've learned "the 'depletion' model of willpower is bogus"?

There is always capacity to choose not to act on a reactive impulse. The notion that that capacity is a finite resource which can be depleted is an illusion.

Do you have any research to support this claim? Because there is lots of research that supports the depletion model.

Re: How can we get willpower back once it has been depleted?

#27

Post by robflynn »

samtp wrote: post #15
sayemm wrote: post #7

"A good deal of willfulness must be inborn, because it's common to see families where one sibling has much more of it than another. Circumstances can alter it, but at the high end of the scale, nature seems to be more important than nurture. Bad circumstances can break the spirit of a strong-willed person, but I don't think there's much you can do to make a weak-willed person stronger-willed." - http://www.paulgraham…

I would love to see citations for all of these very general claims about some of the fundamental debates in modern science (such as nature/nurture). Its great to quote pg (especially on this board), but hold off on taking his word as that of a prophet.

Totally off topic to the discussion, but I couldn't find any contact info for you. Are you still living in Columbia, SC? I am there as well.
Post reply on HN