The Authors of Willpower Answer Your Questions
…thing that is willpower, how can I have such high willpower on most of my life, but such horrible willpower on a single aspect of it? –Michael A. You’re hardly…
…thing that is willpower, how can I have such high willpower on most of my life, but such horrible willpower on a single aspect of it? –Michael A. You’re hardly…
…responses shortly. And here, to prime the pump, is the book’s table of contents. 1. Is Willpower More Than a Metaphor? 2. Where Does the Power in Willpower Come From?…
Sure, we all want to make good personal decisions, but it doesn’t always work out. That’s where “temptation bundling” comes in.
Sure, we all want to make good personal decisions, but it doesn’t always work out. That’s where “temptation bundling” comes in.
What’s the difference between willpower and eagerness? Is there a lifehack that can make you zestier? And could it help Stephen improve his golf game?…
Photo: iStockphoto We’ve blogged before about the limits of willpower, the idea that “willpower itself is inherently limited.” A new essay by Sendhil Mullainathan and Saugato Datta speculates on the…
Recent research on willpower suggests that it’s a limited resource that can be depleted. Now there’s evidence that something else affects willpower: women’s menstrual cycles. A new study by Karen…
…research adds on to an existing body of work on willpower as a limited resource, which we’ve blogged about before. Open question: does reading Freakonomics at work count as cyberloafing?…
Before you commit to those New Year’s resolutions, you might want to read Jonah Lehrer‘s recent article on the limitations of willpower. “Most of us assume that self-control is largely…
Humans have a built-in “negativity bias,” which means we give bad news much more power than good. Would the Covid-19 crisis be an opportune time to reverse this tendency?
What is the cost of admitting you’re wrong? How can intellectual humility make you more open minded? And will Stephen finally persuade Angela that rum-raisin is the best flavor of…
Humans have a built-in “negativity bias,” which means we give bad news much more power than good. Would the Covid-19 crisis be an opportune time to reverse this tendency?
Also: how do you avoid screwing up your kids?
Why do some activities tire your brain more than others? How exhausting is poverty? And could most of the world’s problems be solved with a sandwich?…
How can we distinguish between laziness and patience? Why do people do crossword puzzles? And how is Angie like a combination of a quantum computer and a Sherman tank? Take…
…civilizations hadn’t come crashing to the ground thanks to less drinking and driving. More could be done if we really had the willpower, and next time I’ll discuss some measures…
…is a sort of mind trick to help you accomplish a goal that you don’t quite have the willpower to achieve on your own. Sometimes we need a contract with…
…it as terrible but started so long ago that they just don’t have the energy or willpower to quit. They see smoking as a disgusting habit and a dumb choice…
…plenty of help. Commitment contracts in particular can help when the problem isn’t a lack of creativity but a lack of willpower.? The higher health care costs produced by unhealthy…
New research indicates that dogs and humans have some things in common in the willpower department. Psychologists found that for dogs, as for humans, “self-control is a limited resource, one…
…research on the limited nature of willpower, and suggests occasional brief “Internet breaks” for employees. Readers, what do you think? Does the internet make you more or less productive at…
…for taking this risk.?? Behavioralists tend to think that the only people who would sign up for a stickK contract are those people who have a willpower problem AND are…
…Alternatively, we will have to discover the willpower to allow us to use technology only in moderation. I sometimes toy with a solution — maybe I should set aside $10…
One man’s attempt to remake his life in the mold of homo economicus.
We worship the tradition of handing off a family business to the next generation. But is that really such a good idea?
We worship the tradition of handing off a family business to the next generation. But is that really such a good idea?
Why are people so inconsistent? Is there such a thing as character? And did Stephen once have the world’s longest chain of gum wrappers?…
What do you do when smart people keep making stupid mistakes? And: are we a nation of financial illiterates? This is a “mashupdate” of “Is America Ready for a “No-Lose…
After eight years and more than 300 episodes, it was time to either 1) quit, or 2) make the show bigger and better. We voted for number 2. Here’s a…
A commitment device forces you to be the person you really want to be. What could possibly go wrong?
