taw comments on What would you do if blood glucose theory of willpower was true? - Less Wrong

9 Post author: taw 22 March 2010 08:18PM

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Comment author: taw 23 March 2010 01:03:45AM 4 points [-]

Logical error: ...

You seem to have not read the linked research - consumption of sugary drink restores willpower in laboratory setting, and not one word you said makes any sense in light of this.

Comment author: pjeby 23 March 2010 04:14:55PM *  5 points [-]

You seem to have not read the linked research

Actually, I was the first person to post the glucose-willpower hypothesis to lesswong, nine months ago.

consumption of sugary drink restores willpower in laboratory setting, and not one word you said makes any sense in light of this.

On the contrary - it does not in the slightest invalidate what I said. Glucose can be a bottleneck in some situations, and not in others. In those situations where it is, it will appear to be a magic bullet, and in all other cases it will fall flat.

That's not speculation, it's simple logic on the available evidence regarding the causal chain involved in willpower.

On the other hand, the reasoning you're using regarding glucose is plain old fashioned magical thinking.

Comment author: Kutta 23 March 2010 09:50:05AM *  2 points [-]

Consumption of amphetamines also restores willpower in laboratory settings. The main question is what strategy is sustainable for optimizing mental performance. A one-shot lab study will not give salient answers to that.

Comment author: taw 23 March 2010 10:31:42AM 2 points [-]

You're technically right - laboratory experiments probe proxy measures in unrealistic settings. And that's the only kind of evidence we can really expect from them.

That's why the main thing I was asking about in this post is not if this theory is true (random speculation here will not answer this), but what would be the best ways to exploit it assuming it was true.