To go from my current state of eating a sundae whenever I want to a state of eating a sundae only as a reward, I have to give up the freedom I previously had—which hurts even if I wasn’t even eating sundaes in the first place!
I agree that the sundae functions like a decoration. I’ll try to describe the feeling of the “concretifying”: it’s the thrill and raw sensory experience of sweet stuff going in your mouth, while you are already feeling the high of the accomplishment. This works even if you don’t ever give up your access to the reward at other times, as you can pick something that you’d get tired of quickly or that you just don’t feel like doing unless you are already a bit pumped.
To go from my current state of eating a sundae whenever I want to a state of eating a sundae only as a reward, I have to give up the freedom I previously had—which hurts even if I wasn’t even eating sundaes in the first place!
I agree that the sundae functions like a decoration. I’ll try to describe the feeling of the “concretifying”: it’s the thrill and raw sensory experience of sweet stuff going in your mouth, while you are already feeling the high of the accomplishment. This works even if you don’t ever give up your access to the reward at other times, as you can pick something that you’d get tired of quickly or that you just don’t feel like doing unless you are already a bit pumped.