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JenniferRM comments on Defeating Ugh Fields In Practice - Less Wrong
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I have had success working around 'Ugh' reactions to various activities. I took the direct approach. I (intermittently) use nicotine lozenges as a stimulant while exercising. Apart from boosting physical performance and motivation it also happens to be the most potent substance I am aware of for increasing habit formation in the brain.
Perhaps more important than the, you know, chemical sledge hammer, is the fact that the process of training myself in that way brings up "anti-Ugh" associations. I love optimisation in general and self improvement in particular. I am also fascinated by pharmacology and instinctively 'cheeky'. Having never even considered smoking a cigarette and yet using the disreputable substance 'nicotine' in a way that can be expected to have improvements to my health and well-being is exactly the sort of thing I know my brain loves doing.
It would be very cool to read a series of top level posts about this experience. Perhaps...
The first would give the basic idea, plus a set of warnings and provisos as to who might be seriously hurt by trying to replicate your results and general cautions . Perhaps you could create a sub area in the comments for other people to suggestion reasons for caution to be voted up and down?
The second post would give some background theory as to why the general approach should be expected to work, possibly with some links to some psycho-pharmacology and so on. Also useful would be to suggest a way to measure success and/or detect negative side effects - possibly with a logging system like this?
Finally, you provide practical instructions about how to "build a habit" in terms of habit design, and what to take, and when with an explanation of benefits and any side effects or worries that you were harboring on the side.
I think that would be enough for a brave soul or two (who was not likely to boomerang into a bad situation, like falling back into a smoking habit) to try to replicate your success in a documentable and relatively safe way, to see if they got similar benefits.
It would be hilarious (and almost plausible) if, five years from now, one of the primary reasons people gave for not smoking was because it interfered with their use of the "wedrifid method" for nicotine assisted positive habit formation :-)
I like your thoughts! Particluarly that part about the 'wedrifid method". A place where posts somewhat like what you mention are commonplace is imminst.org.
Before I got into anything quite so experimental I would probably want to post on some basics. There is some real low hanging fruit out there!
Please do! I would be very interested in a series on "use of chemicals to increase willpower". I would even contribute...
I don't know if you've written anything in the last ~year since (pretty sure you haven't), so I've started compiling information at http://www.gwern.net/Nootropics#nicotine
I would like to second patrissimo in a way more concrete than merely upvoting you. Have you made any progress on this?
The idea of using something as powerful as nicotine both terrifies and tempts me, and I'm not sure I'd want to try it without considerable documentation.