Ingenious : Carl Erik Fisher - Issue 45 : Power
▻http://nautil.us/issue/45/power/ingenious-carl-erik-fisher
The reactions to Carl Fisher’s Nautilus essay, “Against Willpower,” ranged from the appreciative to the sorely defensive. Why should we be asked to give up the idea of willpower? Aren’t we just giving ourselves and others permission to fail? Is this a political idea in disguise? That we’re so invested in the idea shouldn’t surprise us, Fisher explains. The successful like the idea that their willpower has enabled them; those who are struggling with some aspect of their lives appreciate the achievable goal it presents. Fisher noticed the patients in his psychotherapy practice referring to it often (he specializes in addiction), conceptualizing it as a unitary, comprehensive resource that can be developed like a muscle, or exhausted. As he studied willpower more deeply, though, he realized (...)