NihilCredo comments on Rationality quotes: August 2010 - Less Wrong
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-- Howard Stanton Levey, The Satanic Bible
(hopefully unnecessary disclaimer: I am in no way a Satanist)
Completely out of curiosity, why do you cite him by his birth name rather than his pen name of Anton Szander LaVey?
As a token of obligatory disrespect towards the juvenile pomposity of adopting a spoooky name for oneself.
And "NihilCredo" isn't a spooky adopted name? :-)
Heh, good quip! :) (the difference is obvious, anyway.)
I know this very well. Video games get so much more appealing when I have some work to avoid.
It could also be a selection effect -- if you're doing something even though you're not supposed to, it must be something you really like.
Similarly, unhealthy food tastes good because substances that are neither healthy nor tasty aren't classified as food.
Or an evolutionary nudge in the direction of hypocrisy.
More precisely, if the tribe has bothered to prohibit it, it must be something that advantages you at someone else's (possibly the group's) expense, and therefore you should be:
a) Encouraged to do it more, while...
b) Exhibiting plausible self-punishment when caught, to maintain group ties.
The former explains the increased reward, the latter the social behavior aspect.
It's specifically the "I have something unpleasant to do, and I'm not doing it!" that's exciting. I'll play even a bad game when I have work to avoid.