Unfortunately, I’ll be too busy to write anything more than this comment until (at least) tomorrow, and the discussion is indeed getting complex and buried ever deeper into the comment thread, so I’m not sure if we’ll be able to continue. But in any case, I think it’s been a worthwhile exchange, and it has made me rethink my positions on these issues. As a final observation, I’ll just briefly address this comment of yours:
In my last substantive reply, I basically said that there are two kinds of phenomena going on, as seen by several significant differences, justifying a different term for each one (because they occupy such different clumps of conceptspace). And whatever those terms are, some contexts certainly do justify distinguishing between the two.
I agree with this, and in retrospect, I see that due to my own hasty writing and lack of clarity, my comments could have been read as denying this distinction altogether, which was not my intention. Therefore, I think our true disagreement has been about: (1) how widely your “smoker vs. jogger” model is applicable in practice (and in particular, whether it is applicable to typical smokers who plead addiction), and (2) how widely the signaling explanation is applicable instead (i.e. the case where one falsely pleads one’s supposed inability to suffer the withdrawal pains to gain the more respectable victim/sufferer status instead of being condemned for practicing vice willingly).
Maybe my impressions in this regard are biased, perhaps by my personal experiences. For all I know, I might be an atypical individual in this regard; but then, from many anecdotal observations, I have the impression that people around me have often played the above described signaling game, to the point where I see it as a general rule. So at the end, we can probably settle for an empirical disagreement whose resolution would require detailed discussions of a large, representative set of concrete situations, to see how far these alternative explanations are applicable in practice.
It looks like there is indeed quite of bit of overlap between our views. I haven’t had much experience with people using the “addiction” excuse, but I recommend you approach the topic using a broader definition, as I do in this blog post (which I think you’ll enjoy).
Instead of looking at it from the perspective of, “Is this person just making some excuse so they can get away with irresponsibly continuing the addictive behavior?”, look at it from the perspective of, “Does this person get strong urges to do something they know is bad for them, enjoy doing it, but also wish they didn’t get those urges?” And then ask if that’s a very special kind of “preference” (though I think you already agree now).
Excerpt from the blog (emphasis added):
You all know about how society regards certain products as dangerous, … because they are addictive. … Yet I have never been able to get addicted (or near addicted—I’m not going by the rigorous psychological definition here) to such products. …
While I have tried cigarettes before, … beyond the threshold that makes people yearn for a cigarette, I feel no desire whatsoever to smoke. … Now, here’s the kicker: I do get powerful, near-addiction urges to e.g. post on internet forums, eat ice cream/milkshakes (YUM!), play certain video games, and other things I can remember. But EVERY one of those things for which I do get urges … is completely legal!
And again, I believe the addiction excuse is heavily overused; I just don’t think that resolves the akrasia issue.
Unfortunately, I’ll be too busy to write anything more than this comment until (at least) tomorrow, and the discussion is indeed getting complex and buried ever deeper into the comment thread, so I’m not sure if we’ll be able to continue. But in any case, I think it’s been a worthwhile exchange, and it has made me rethink my positions on these issues. As a final observation, I’ll just briefly address this comment of yours:
I agree with this, and in retrospect, I see that due to my own hasty writing and lack of clarity, my comments could have been read as denying this distinction altogether, which was not my intention. Therefore, I think our true disagreement has been about: (1) how widely your “smoker vs. jogger” model is applicable in practice (and in particular, whether it is applicable to typical smokers who plead addiction), and (2) how widely the signaling explanation is applicable instead (i.e. the case where one falsely pleads one’s supposed inability to suffer the withdrawal pains to gain the more respectable victim/sufferer status instead of being condemned for practicing vice willingly).
Maybe my impressions in this regard are biased, perhaps by my personal experiences. For all I know, I might be an atypical individual in this regard; but then, from many anecdotal observations, I have the impression that people around me have often played the above described signaling game, to the point where I see it as a general rule. So at the end, we can probably settle for an empirical disagreement whose resolution would require detailed discussions of a large, representative set of concrete situations, to see how far these alternative explanations are applicable in practice.
It looks like there is indeed quite of bit of overlap between our views. I haven’t had much experience with people using the “addiction” excuse, but I recommend you approach the topic using a broader definition, as I do in this blog post (which I think you’ll enjoy).
Instead of looking at it from the perspective of, “Is this person just making some excuse so they can get away with irresponsibly continuing the addictive behavior?”, look at it from the perspective of, “Does this person get strong urges to do something they know is bad for them, enjoy doing it, but also wish they didn’t get those urges?” And then ask if that’s a very special kind of “preference” (though I think you already agree now).
Excerpt from the blog (emphasis added):
And again, I believe the addiction excuse is heavily overused; I just don’t think that resolves the akrasia issue.
Thanks for the link! I just posted a reply at your blog.
Thanks for the comment. I posted a reply with a link to another LW thread you might find interesting.