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I disagree with your assessment of the article. The Victorian definition of willpower is the same one my friends/family and I use today. Now that I have read th

I disagree with your assessment of the article. The Victorian definition of willpower is the same one my friends/family and I use today. Now that I have read the article I will be more mindful of how I use the term "willpower" compared to other concepts (like the cognitive strategies). The author makes a great case for how we use the term willpower is different scenarios to mean entirely different concepts. While the marshmellow experiment willpower is similar to interpersonal bargaining willpower, the difference is important for defining scientific vocabulary. The author is not talking about colloquial use of willpower. And these two separate use cases of the term need to be rectified. Granted, the author doesn't discuss solutions. But it seems to me a discussion of solutions would be better as another article.

darawk 8y ago
> I disagree with your assessment of the article. The Victorian definition of willpower is the same one my friends/family and I use today. Now that I have read the article I will be more mindful of how I use the term "willpower" compared to other concepts (like the cognitive strategies). Cognitive strategies are not in tension with willpower. They are complementary. You tradeoff one for the other. > The author makes a great case for how we use the term willpower is different scenarios to mean entirely different concepts. While the marshmellow experiment willpower is similar to interpersonal bargaining willpower, the difference is important for defining scientific vocabulary. The author is not talking about colloquial use of willpower. And these two separate use cases of the term need to be rectified. He's absolutely talking about colloquial use of the term. > These studies also set the stage for the modern definition of willpower which is described in both the academic and popular press as the capacity for immediate self-control—the top-down squelching of momentary impulses and urges. > The specific conception of “willpower,” however, didn’t emerge until the Victorian Era...Self-control became a Victorian obsession, promoted by publications like the immensely popular 1859 book Self-Help, which preached the values of “self-denial” and untiring perseverance. The Victorians took an idea directly from the Industrial Revolution and described willpower as a tangible force driving the engine of our self-control. The willpower-deficient were to be held in contempt. The earliest use of the word, in 1874 according to the Oxford English Dictionary, was in reference to moralistic worries about substance use: “The drunkard ... whose will-power and whose moral force have been conquered by degraded appetite.” These are the same definition. There is no meaningful difference between them as far as I can see.

darawk 8y ago

> I disagree with your assessment of the article. The Victorian definition of willpower is the same one my friends/family and I use today. Now that I have read the article I will be more mindful of how I use the term "willpower" compared to other concepts (like the cognitive strategies). Cognitive strategies are not in tension with willpower. They are complementary. You tradeoff one for the other. > The author makes a great case for how we use the term willpower is different scenarios to mean entirely different concepts. While the marshmellow experiment willpower is similar to interpersonal bargaining willpower, the difference is important for defining scientific vocabulary. The author is not talking about colloquial use of willpower. And these two separate use cases of the term need to be rectified. He's absolutely talking about colloquial use of the term. > These studies also set the stage for the modern definition of willpower which is described in both the academic and popular press as the capacity for immediate self-control—the top-down squelching of momentary impulses and urges. > The specific conception of “willpower,” however, didn’t emerge until the Victorian Era...Self-control became a Victorian obsession, promoted by publications like the immensely popular 1859 book Self-Help, which preached the values of “self-denial” and untiring perseverance. The Victorians took an idea directly from the Industrial Revolution and described willpower as a tangible force driving the engine of our self-control. The willpower-deficient were to be held in contempt. The earliest use of the word, in 1874 according to the Oxford English Dictionary, was in reference to moralistic worries about substance use: “The drunkard ... whose will-power and whose moral force have been conquered by degraded appetite.” These are the same definition. There is no meaningful difference between them as far as I can see.