The book you linked to is mostly irrelevant to the problem Eliezer was addressing. The author writes, “Both types of procrastinators dislike the chores they are avoiding.” Eliezer’s hypothesis is a contribution even if (like me) you don’t think it true. Eliezer recognized that ordinary hyperbolic discounting can’t explain procrastination such as he experiences, where he decidedly does not dislike the activities, which can’t be described as “chores.” His clever solution is to apply hyperbolic-discounting considerations to mental acts.
I don’t think it’s accurate to say Eliezer posted in ignorance of the literature on procrastination. Everything the book you linked to mentions is well-known, truistic by now, except the distinction between relaxed and tense procrastinators—a dispensable classification.
Hyperbolic discounting is pretty much clearly the correct overarching framework for the kind of procrastination the author of the linked book discusses—but you don’t learn that from the linked book (unless I missed it).
The book you linked to is mostly irrelevant to the problem Eliezer was addressing. The author writes, “Both types of procrastinators dislike the chores they are avoiding.” Eliezer’s hypothesis is a contribution even if (like me) you don’t think it true. Eliezer recognized that ordinary hyperbolic discounting can’t explain procrastination such as he experiences, where he decidedly does not dislike the activities, which can’t be described as “chores.” His clever solution is to apply hyperbolic-discounting considerations to mental acts.
I don’t think it’s accurate to say Eliezer posted in ignorance of the literature on procrastination. Everything the book you linked to mentions is well-known, truistic by now, except the distinction between relaxed and tense procrastinators—a dispensable classification.
Hyperbolic discounting is pretty much clearly the correct overarching framework for the kind of procrastination the author of the linked book discusses—but you don’t learn that from the linked book (unless I missed it).