The philosopher Harry Frankfurt argued that the ability to overcome impulses in pursuit of longer-term desires is what distinguishes humans from animals. We are able to reflect on our desires, and decide whether to follow them. In other words, we can exercise will. But how does willpower work? Where does it come from? And how can we better harvest it? By ANDREA TEAGLE.
A few years back, a researcher called Roy Baumeister and his colleagues proposed a radical idea. Willpower, they said, is not a skill; rather, it is drawn from a finite resource. The more you use it, the more depleted it becomes. Baumeister compared self-control to a muscle: although exercising it can strengthen it over time, it nonetheless becomes fatigued in the short term. A flood of studies (close to 200) followed seeking to demonstrate this effect, dubbed "ego depletion". They typically involve two consecutive, unrelated tasks requiring self-control.
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