linkhyrule5 comments on Akrasia and Shangri-La - Less Wrong
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Looking at this, and then at Yvain's blue-minimizing robot analogy...
... I wonder if akrasia isn't just what happens when the conscious "rider" tries to enforce something on the unconscious "robot"?
Due to recent emotional trauma, I've shifted from a rather cliche procrastinating college student to someone much more focused. On the inside, it feels like I'm just trying harder - but remembering how I felt a year ago, it's clearly not that simple. A year ago, I felt like I was trying as hard as I feasibly could.
Oh, sure, I had plenty of excuses why I couldn't try harder... but reversed stupidity, etc. My conscious self would very much have liked to work harder back then.
So I wonder if overcoming akrasia isn't a matter of knocking your unconscious tendencies into something useful to you...