You're looking at Less Wrong's discussion board. This includes all posts, including those that haven't been promoted to the front page yet. For more information, see About Less Wrong.

entirelyuseless comments on Willpower Schedule - Less Wrong Discussion

4 Post author: SquirrelInHell 22 August 2016 01:05PM

You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.

Comments (6)

You are viewing a single comment's thread.

Comment author: entirelyuseless 28 August 2016 05:23:45AM 1 point [-]

I don't see why this would "supersede" other models. I don't have to test it in my own case, because I already know that I am less willing to work if I did not expect to have to work. That doesn't mean that willpower is not a consumable resource. For example, you can compare it with money. If I go out and expect to spend $20, I might tell people, "I can't afford that," if the thing is going to cost $100. But if I had expected it to cost $100, I might have spent that amount. None of that shows that money is not a consumable resource.

Comment author: SquirrelInHell 30 August 2016 07:41:58AM 0 points [-]

Using your money analogy, what I'm saying above is that if you expect the item to cost $20, you will go to the shop with only $20 or $25 in your wallet. So you won't buy the item if it costs $100.

This theory is compatible with willpower being expendable - obviously, you can't carry more cash in your wallet than the total amount you own.

So it is a more detailed model, in which you can be short of money in two ways: you can't afford this at all, or you didn't think to have that much cash on you when you left the house.