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What about 90% willpower? 80/20? I'm willing to go below 100% on ascribing this to willpower, but probably no lower than 70%, just based on the outcomes for f

What about 90% willpower? 80/20? I'm willing to go below 100% on ascribing this to willpower, but probably no lower than 70%, just based on the outcomes for folks who have willpower and for folks who don't. There's just too much evidence supporting the idea that actively eating less and continuing to do so is a successful strategy for losing weight, combined with the obvious fact of simple human biology that eating involves consciously taking food and putting it into your mouth (sleep-eating notwithstanding).

scarmig 4y ago
I hesitate to speculate; for any individual, it could be a different mix. It would be an interesting test to correlate obesity with other non-food related willpower tasks. If the correlation was high, on a population level I'd lean more toward willpower being the dominating factor; if the correlation was low, more toward the catchall non-willpower factor.
- SpeedilyDamage 4y ago
  But you already speculated by claiming it's not 100%. So either you have another number in mind or are just being contrarian... Further, your experimentation has a flaw; no two things carry identical risk factors and "willpower" factors. Food, as anything, is unique, so the idea of comparing it to other willpower exertions isn't relevant.
  - scarmig 4y ago
    > Food, as anything, is unique, so the idea of comparing it to other willpower exertions isn't relevant. So, you're backing away from the idea that people who struggle with weight lack willpower and are shifting to the stance that they lack some hunger-specific willpower that's unrelated to anything else meaningful? That's completely indistinguishable from the idea that some people feel hunger more than others.
    - SpeedilyDamage 4y ago
      Nope, I’m reasserting that applying willpower to food consumption is completely possible, and to claim that willpower isn’t a skill is to deny decades of research that shows over and over again that it is.

scarmig 4y ago

I hesitate to speculate; for any individual, it could be a different mix. It would be an interesting test to correlate obesity with other non-food related willpower tasks. If the correlation was high, on a population level I'd lean more toward willpower being the dominating factor; if the correlation was low, more toward the catchall non-willpower factor.

SpeedilyDamage 4y ago
But you already speculated by claiming it's not 100%. So either you have another number in mind or are just being contrarian... Further, your experimentation has a flaw; no two things carry identical risk factors and "willpower" factors. Food, as anything, is unique, so the idea of comparing it to other willpower exertions isn't relevant.
- scarmig 4y ago
  > Food, as anything, is unique, so the idea of comparing it to other willpower exertions isn't relevant. So, you're backing away from the idea that people who struggle with weight lack willpower and are shifting to the stance that they lack some hunger-specific willpower that's unrelated to anything else meaningful? That's completely indistinguishable from the idea that some people feel hunger more than others.
  - SpeedilyDamage 4y ago
    Nope, I’m reasserting that applying willpower to food consumption is completely possible, and to claim that willpower isn’t a skill is to deny decades of research that shows over and over again that it is.