4 ms·
>So, one hour spent Really Happy, outweighs a year spent Just Happy, because that Really Happy is all received by your present self. I find making decisions th
by klausa 13y ago
>So, one hour spent Really Happy, outweighs a year spent Just Happy, because that Really Happy is all received by your present self.
I find making decisions that end up along lines of this really, really difficult. The rational part of my brain knows very well which one should I choose, but it has really, really hard time arguing with that more... I don't know, primal? part of me.
I think it's really fascinating, how relatively weak our conscious self is in arguments with our short term desires.
- derefr 13y agoThere's something even more fascinating you can learn if you introspect on this topic during an experience with a dopaminergic compound (e.g. cocaine, Adderall.) Exerting exactly this type of willpower (setting long-term goals before short-term rewards) is what "spends" dopamine in the brain. The more dopamine you have available, the longer-term you tend to plan. And when you run dry, you feel "restless" and want to do things "on a whim." --- In the face of this, it's really quite fascinating how meaningless a term like "willpower" becomes. Doing what you want-to-want to do basically comes down to: A. having enough dopamine in the first place (children should really get checked for ADD/ADHD at about the same time get checked for nearsightedness), and B. making pre-commitments with strong consequences for reneging (e.g., losing money you've bet; or making you look low-status to people you care about.) There's nothing else to it.