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How do you explain some of the most drastic and lasting changes in many peoples lives coincide with wanting them very deeply? We just happened to want most what

by meroes 2y ago

How do you explain some of the most drastic and lasting changes in many peoples lives coincide with wanting them very deeply? We just happened to want most what we achieve?

herval 2y ago
there's many ways the causality might be inversed. We tend to tell stories to justify what happened all the time, so the "strong wish" can always be a self-justification. You can also be tricked by your brain to wishing more of something by "programming" (that's positive reinforcement in practice - our brains aren't that different from other mammals). Lots of people who are successful at, say, going to the gym regularly, only do it because they found a way to create that feedback loop. so it's likely that just "wishing something very deeply" doesn't actually lead to anything, but acting in a way that affects your mental chemistry (be it via creating feedback loops that make your brain crave more of X or simply by taking certain medicine that does it for you) does
- meroes 2y ago
  If we are that self-deceptive as you are claiming, don’t we need to be extremely careful we aren’t deceiving ourselves into less autonomy? How can we?
  - herval 2y ago
    yes, you need to be careful. Your brain evolved over ages to value certain things that are detrimental in high volumes: calories, rest and addicting substances, for instance. welcome to being human :-)
SkyPuncher 2y ago
Chemical responses can change, but those changes are either very slow and/or constantly fighting your body's natural tendencies. The flip side, though, is when you get the chemical responses to change in a way that you want, they become very sticky.
- meroes 2y ago
  So wanting is a key driver then, since it makes the chemical changes more sticky?
  - herval 2y ago
    “Wanting” is almost entirely a hormonal response (to dopamine and a few other chemicals) - you don’t “want” much of anything if your dopamine levels are low. So “wanting” is an indicator, more than a driver. That said, “willpower” (whatever that is) does impact your hormonal production - plenty of research on that, eg around the effects of meditation on the brain

by meroes 2y ago

How do you explain some of the most drastic and lasting changes in many peoples lives coincide with wanting them very deeply? We just happened to want most what we achieve?

herval 2y ago

there's many ways the causality might be inversed. We tend to tell stories to justify what happened all the time, so the "strong wish" can always be a self-justification. You can also be tricked by your brain to wishing more of something by "programming" (that's positive reinforcement in practice - our brains aren't that different from other mammals). Lots of people who are successful at, say, going to the gym regularly, only do it because they found a way to create that feedback loop. so it's likely that just "wishing something very deeply" doesn't actually lead to anything, but acting in a way that affects your mental chemistry (be it via creating feedback loops that make your brain crave more of X or simply by taking certain medicine that does it for you) does

meroes 2y ago
If we are that self-deceptive as you are claiming, don’t we need to be extremely careful we aren’t deceiving ourselves into less autonomy? How can we?
- herval 2y ago
  yes, you need to be careful. Your brain evolved over ages to value certain things that are detrimental in high volumes: calories, rest and addicting substances, for instance. welcome to being human :-)

SkyPuncher 2y ago

Chemical responses can change, but those changes are either very slow and/or constantly fighting your body's natural tendencies. The flip side, though, is when you get the chemical responses to change in a way that you want, they become very sticky.

meroes 2y ago
So wanting is a key driver then, since it makes the chemical changes more sticky?
- herval 2y ago
  “Wanting” is almost entirely a hormonal response (to dopamine and a few other chemicals) - you don’t “want” much of anything if your dopamine levels are low. So “wanting” is an indicator, more than a driver. That said, “willpower” (whatever that is) does impact your hormonal production - plenty of research on that, eg around the effects of meditation on the brain