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"Willpower and cognitive processing draw from the same pool of resources." This is the Ego Depletion hypothesis. When the article was written in 2013 it seemed

by mrob 10y ago

"Willpower and cognitive processing draw from the same pool of resources." This is the Ego Depletion hypothesis. When the article was written in 2013 it seemed very likely to be true. In 2016 we're now aware of serious problems in many psychology studies, and while it's not definitely proven false, it's failed to replicate in enough studies that there's major doubt about it being a real effect. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ego_depletion#Reproducibility_controversy_and_conflicting_meta_analyses https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ego_depletion#Reproducibility_... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Replication_crisis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Replication_crisis

conistonwater 10y ago
> When the article was written in 2013 it seemed very likely to be true. I want to be pedantic about this and point out that this is a kind of a mistake. The issues that were present in the original studies were already "known", even if people didn't pay attention to that. It appears that even in 1967 it was already a thing: http://andrewgelman.com/2016/05/06/needed-an-intellectual-history-of-research-criticism-in-psychology/ http://andrewgelman.com/2016/05/06/needed-an-intellectual-hi... (discussing this article of Paul Meehl: http://www.fisme.science.uu.nl/staff/christianb/downloads/meehl1967.pdf http://www.fisme.science.uu.nl/staff/christianb/downloads/me...) Since people didn't pay attention to the criticism, it's technically correct that the consensus was that it seemed likely to be true, but still…
- acbabis 10y ago
  Good point. It is also technically correct to say "that it seemed likely not to be true"
djsumdog 10y ago
There was an NPR article I heard on this years ago: http://www.npr.org/2011/09/18/140516974/resistance-training-for-your-willpower-muscles http://www.npr.org/2011/09/18/140516974/resistance-training-...
DiabloD3 10y ago
The problem with saying ego depletion isn't a thing may still be false. I personally have a limited amount of "give a fuck". If I run out of fucks to give, well, that's the end of the story. I know exactly how many fucks I can give per day, and I suspect all of this is what they call ego depletion. So, claiming it doesn't exist simply doesn't align with my own personal experience. Most likely, it is more subtle than current scientific testing can account for.
- nikatwork 10y ago
  And if I push myself to give more fucks per day I find it easier to maintain that level over time... I think of it as building momentum, others think of it as exercising the willpower muscle. Ego depletion could be a "just so" story but I still think it's an interesting/useful model.
  - throwanem 10y ago
    Another interesting and possibly germane question is: what happens when you find yourself giving fucks you didn't mean to? And another: what happens when you find your fucks getting stolen?
    - jpindar 10y ago
      Burnout.
      - nerdponx 10y ago
        Legit answer. Source: personal experience
        Xorlev 10y ago
        Not sure why you're being downvoted, I can attest to this. There's only a certain amount of care you can give at a steady state (though, this does _seem_ to be able to increase, like a muscle at least for me personally). That said, if I work it too hard for too long with too much stress I experience burnout. Burnout, as mentioned many many times by people far more eloquent than I, has different levels. Can be mild, can be major malfunction. Stay frosty, folks. Make your attention count.

by mrob 10y ago

conistonwater 10y ago

> When the article was written in 2013 it seemed very likely to be true. I want to be pedantic about this and point out that this is a kind of a mistake. The issues that were present in the original studies were already "known", even if people didn't pay attention to that. It appears that even in 1967 it was already a thing: http://andrewgelman.com/2016/05/06/needed-an-intellectual-history-of-research-criticism-in-psychology/ http://andrewgelman.com/2016/05/06/needed-an-intellectual-hi... (discussing this article of Paul Meehl: http://www.fisme.science.uu.nl/staff/christianb/downloads/meehl1967.pdf http://www.fisme.science.uu.nl/staff/christianb/downloads/me...) Since people didn't pay attention to the criticism, it's technically correct that the consensus was that it seemed likely to be true, but still…

acbabis 10y ago
Good point. It is also technically correct to say "that it seemed likely not to be true"

djsumdog 10y ago

There was an NPR article I heard on this years ago: http://www.npr.org/2011/09/18/140516974/resistance-training-for-your-willpower-muscles http://www.npr.org/2011/09/18/140516974/resistance-training-...

DiabloD3 10y ago

The problem with saying ego depletion isn't a thing may still be false. I personally have a limited amount of "give a fuck". If I run out of fucks to give, well, that's the end of the story. I know exactly how many fucks I can give per day, and I suspect all of this is what they call ego depletion. So, claiming it doesn't exist simply doesn't align with my own personal experience. Most likely, it is more subtle than current scientific testing can account for.

nikatwork 10y ago
And if I push myself to give more fucks per day I find it easier to maintain that level over time... I think of it as building momentum, others think of it as exercising the willpower muscle. Ego depletion could be a "just so" story but I still think it's an interesting/useful model.
- throwanem 10y ago
  Another interesting and possibly germane question is: what happens when you find yourself giving fucks you didn't mean to? And another: what happens when you find your fucks getting stolen?
  - jpindar 10y ago
    Burnout.
    - nerdponx 10y ago
      Legit answer. Source: personal experience
      - Xorlev 10y ago
        Not sure why you're being downvoted, I can attest to this. There's only a certain amount of care you can give at a steady state (though, this does _seem_ to be able to increase, like a muscle at least for me personally). That said, if I work it too hard for too long with too much stress I experience burnout. Burnout, as mentioned many many times by people far more eloquent than I, has different levels. Can be mild, can be major malfunction. Stay frosty, folks. Make your attention count.