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DanielLC comments on "Stupid" questions thread - Less Wrong Discussion

40 Post author: gothgirl420666 13 July 2013 02:42AM

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Comment author: DanielLC 13 July 2013 08:41:44PM 1 point [-]

But what's the explanation for people to go low on willpower after exerting willpower?

Comment author: CAE_Jones 14 July 2013 12:33:36AM 4 points [-]

My reading of the passage Kaj_Sotala quoted is that the brain is decreasingly likely to encourage exerting will toward a thing the longer it goes without reward. In a somewhat meta way, that could be seen as will power as a depletable resource, but the reward need not adjust glucose levels directly.

Comment author: DanielLC 14 July 2013 04:57:17AM 2 points [-]

I never suspected it had anything to do with glucose. I'd guess that it's something where people with more willpower didn't do as well in the ancestral environment, since they did more work than strictly necessary, so we evolved to have it as a depletable resource.