I think part of the problem with resolving dynamic inconsistencies is it is human nature to reward bad behavior more than good. Consider as an analogy how the medical systems in most developed countries handle pathological behaviors. Suppose you went to your doctor and told them you ate a low calorie healthy diet, exercised regularly, practiced safe sex and had a good handle on your stress. As a result you were pretty healthy. Your reward from your doctor and your medical insurance company would be NOTHING.
Now suppose you smoked heavily so had COPD, ate like a pig and never exercised so were obese, already had HIV and assorted other sexually transmitted diseases and refused to work due to being stressed out. Society couldn’t throw money at you fast enough. You’d get loads of attention from doctors and nurses, a welfare check, support groups eager to have you as a member, free time off, free housing, you name it. As a bonus if anyone made the mistake of asking you to do SOMETHING to show a sense of responsibility you could give any number of excuses for doing nothing.
Being a lazy freeloader is the logical choice in any society that rewards it. Likewise with our various selves the pathological versions are generally rewarded more than the healthy versions. Until and unless we change this we won’t have much “willpower” since it really is most logical to be pathological.
The reward for staying healthy is health. The rewards for unhealth are trash. Show of hands: how many people reading this find the unhealth lifestyle that you describe attractive? How many repulsive? 1 vote here for “repulsive”.
That’s a dangerous (and personally I think incorrect) argument Nerissa if taken to its logical extremes.
Whether being a lazy freeloader is indeed the logical choice as you claim depends on exactly what kind of ‘rewards’ you’re looking for from your life. If all you want is medical attention and welfare support, then maybe it’s true, although I’d expect that most people would prefer to exchange the medical attention for health, and the welfare support (presumably equivalent to just scraping by) for a more comfortable, while still easily obtainable, income source
An excellent article Academian; like others have noted, what you describe sounds a lot like the idea of an ‘inner balance’ - being aware of your differing motivations/desires and attempting to form some kind of peace between them.
I think part of the problem with resolving dynamic inconsistencies is it is human nature to reward bad behavior more than good. Consider as an analogy how the medical systems in most developed countries handle pathological behaviors. Suppose you went to your doctor and told them you ate a low calorie healthy diet, exercised regularly, practiced safe sex and had a good handle on your stress. As a result you were pretty healthy. Your reward from your doctor and your medical insurance company would be NOTHING.
Now suppose you smoked heavily so had COPD, ate like a pig and never exercised so were obese, already had HIV and assorted other sexually transmitted diseases and refused to work due to being stressed out. Society couldn’t throw money at you fast enough. You’d get loads of attention from doctors and nurses, a welfare check, support groups eager to have you as a member, free time off, free housing, you name it. As a bonus if anyone made the mistake of asking you to do SOMETHING to show a sense of responsibility you could give any number of excuses for doing nothing.
Being a lazy freeloader is the logical choice in any society that rewards it. Likewise with our various selves the pathological versions are generally rewarded more than the healthy versions. Until and unless we change this we won’t have much “willpower” since it really is most logical to be pathological.
The reward for staying healthy is health. The rewards for unhealth are trash. Show of hands: how many people reading this find the unhealth lifestyle that you describe attractive? How many repulsive? 1 vote here for “repulsive”.
That’s a dangerous (and personally I think incorrect) argument Nerissa if taken to its logical extremes.
Whether being a lazy freeloader is indeed the logical choice as you claim depends on exactly what kind of ‘rewards’ you’re looking for from your life. If all you want is medical attention and welfare support, then maybe it’s true, although I’d expect that most people would prefer to exchange the medical attention for health, and the welfare support (presumably equivalent to just scraping by) for a more comfortable, while still easily obtainable, income source
An excellent article Academian; like others have noted, what you describe sounds a lot like the idea of an ‘inner balance’ - being aware of your differing motivations/desires and attempting to form some kind of peace between them.