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If you believe willpower is a skill, and you believe that deciding to eat or not eat is a conscious choice, then you must therefore believe a person can train t

If you believe willpower is a skill, and you believe that deciding to eat or not eat is a conscious choice, then you must therefore believe a person can train their willpower to prevent them from making the choice to eat. There are no other ways to see this. You don’t subconsciously eat, that’s not really a thing.

vouaobrasil 4y ago
I don't agree with that reasoning, even with your premises. Willpower could be a skill, but some people could learn it better than others because of innate ability. Piano is a skill, but some people learn it much better than others. A person might be able to learn some level of willpower but still lack a sufficient amount to prevent them from eating.
- SpeedilyDamage 4y ago
  [flagged]
  - BuyMyBitcoins 4y ago
    Why assert that everyone is equally capable of learning willpower? There are upper limits to skill acquisition, regardless of how much someone practices. I’m not convinced willpower is highly trainable either. Your citations don’t claim that.
    - SpeedilyDamage 4y ago
      [flagged]
      - BuyMyBitcoins 4y ago
        >”...or are you not here to learn? :)” There’s no need to be snide. Use your willpower to resist the urge to be provocative and have a discussion in good faith. If you actually go into those citations you’ll find they aren’t very definitive about the malleability of impulse control, especially over the long term. “Our findings suggest that self-control is potentially malleable and the practice of inhibiting impulses may help people lose weight, eat healthier and increase their physical activity," And I think you’re posting studies that extoll the virtue of discipline, which is nice but it doesn’t disprove willpower has a chemical and genetic basis. Some of these are just about children studying in school and having less willpower when one is tired or stressed. Most of them only provide generic and non profound advice.
        SpeedilyDamage 4y ago
        Nothing is definitive in science, if you're waiting around for certainty before doing something, you're going to wait for a very long time. Also, "Doesn't disprove" is not, fundamentally, how any of this works. I'm honestly surprised you think that's a viable argument here...
        BuyMyBitcoins 4y ago
        >”Also, "Doesn't disprove" is not, fundamentally, how any of this works. I'm honestly surprised you think that's a viable argument here...” In a response to me elsewhere in this topic you said, ”the science is firmly against you” and I’ve yet to see anything in your citations that backs that up, much less “firmly”. And you still couldn’t resist the temptation to be snide…
        SpeedilyDamage 4y ago
        I’m going to appear snide to you for the remainder of this conversation because you don’t have good faith in mind. You’re in the “seeing ghosts” phase of this chat, paranoia seems to have you. That’s demonstrated by your refusal to accept the basic truth that there’s a lot of strong evidence to suggest that willpower is a skill that can be grown and applied to weight loss.
        BuyMyBitcoins 4y ago
        You appear snide through your language choice, not through mere disagreement. You come off as arrogant and condescending.
d1sxeyes 4y ago
> then you must therefore believe a person can train their willpower to prevent them from making the choice to eat. Yes. But for some people, that training will be very easy, and for others, the training will be hard. My point does not contradict yours, it adds to it.

vouaobrasil 4y ago

I don't agree with that reasoning, even with your premises. Willpower could be a skill, but some people could learn it better than others because of innate ability. Piano is a skill, but some people learn it much better than others. A person might be able to learn some level of willpower but still lack a sufficient amount to prevent them from eating.

SpeedilyDamage 4y ago
[flagged]
- BuyMyBitcoins 4y ago
  Why assert that everyone is equally capable of learning willpower? There are upper limits to skill acquisition, regardless of how much someone practices. I’m not convinced willpower is highly trainable either. Your citations don’t claim that.
  - SpeedilyDamage 4y ago
    [flagged]
    - BuyMyBitcoins 4y ago
      >”...or are you not here to learn? :)” There’s no need to be snide. Use your willpower to resist the urge to be provocative and have a discussion in good faith. If you actually go into those citations you’ll find they aren’t very definitive about the malleability of impulse control, especially over the long term. “Our findings suggest that self-control is potentially malleable and the practice of inhibiting impulses may help people lose weight, eat healthier and increase their physical activity," And I think you’re posting studies that extoll the virtue of discipline, which is nice but it doesn’t disprove willpower has a chemical and genetic basis. Some of these are just about children studying in school and having less willpower when one is tired or stressed. Most of them only provide generic and non profound advice.
      - SpeedilyDamage 4y ago
        Nothing is definitive in science, if you're waiting around for certainty before doing something, you're going to wait for a very long time. Also, "Doesn't disprove" is not, fundamentally, how any of this works. I'm honestly surprised you think that's a viable argument here...
        BuyMyBitcoins 4y ago
        >”Also, "Doesn't disprove" is not, fundamentally, how any of this works. I'm honestly surprised you think that's a viable argument here...” In a response to me elsewhere in this topic you said, ”the science is firmly against you” and I’ve yet to see anything in your citations that backs that up, much less “firmly”. And you still couldn’t resist the temptation to be snide…
        SpeedilyDamage 4y ago
        I’m going to appear snide to you for the remainder of this conversation because you don’t have good faith in mind. You’re in the “seeing ghosts” phase of this chat, paranoia seems to have you. That’s demonstrated by your refusal to accept the basic truth that there’s a lot of strong evidence to suggest that willpower is a skill that can be grown and applied to weight loss.
        BuyMyBitcoins 4y ago
        You appear snide through your language choice, not through mere disagreement. You come off as arrogant and condescending.

d1sxeyes 4y ago

> then you must therefore believe a person can train their willpower to prevent them from making the choice to eat. Yes. But for some people, that training will be very easy, and for others, the training will be hard. My point does not contradict yours, it adds to it.