jwhendy comments on What would you do with infinite willpower? - Less Wrong

9 Post author: D_Malik 03 June 2011 12:22PM

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Comment author: jwhendy 04 June 2011 04:18:09PM *  0 points [-]

Huh. I think I'd choose chocolate now or later :)

I still don't know I quite get it. So, if I asked you what you'd like to do in one month's time, study or play a game, you'd say study?

I was thinking you were going along the lines of timeless decision theory, and perhaps that's why I'm confused. I'd assumed that were comparing whether to study or play games now based on the immediate but momentary reward of games now vs. the longer lasting and more deeply satisfying future rewards of studying.

In other words, I'd always thought that TDT/hyperbolic discounting were about remedying the postponing of actions because of far-mode perception of rewards. Thus, your statement of having decreased your hyperbolic discounting made me think you meant that you were better about seeing the far-mode rewards of studying and thus chose to study now rather than postponing.

Instead, you've discussed what you would decide to do in the future, and thus I'm confused...