This may sound like a contradiction in terms, but if you will think about it, guilt can often add a fillip to the senses. Adults would do well to take a lesson from children: children often take great delight in doing something they know they are not supposed to.
I know this very well. Video games get so much more appealing when I have some work to avoid.
It could also be a selection effect—if you’re doing something even though you’re not supposed to, it must be something you really like.
Or an evolutionary nudge in the direction of hypocrisy.
More precisely, if the tribe has bothered to prohibit it, it must be something that advantages you at someone else’s (possibly the group’s) expense, and therefore you should be:
a) Encouraged to do it more, while...
b) Exhibiting plausible self-punishment when caught, to maintain group ties.
The former explains the increased reward, the latter the social behavior aspect.
I know this very well. Video games get so much more appealing when I have some work to avoid.
It could also be a selection effect—if you’re doing something even though you’re not supposed to, it must be something you really like.
Similarly, unhealthy food tastes good because substances that are neither healthy nor tasty aren’t classified as food.
Or an evolutionary nudge in the direction of hypocrisy.
More precisely, if the tribe has bothered to prohibit it, it must be something that advantages you at someone else’s (possibly the group’s) expense, and therefore you should be:
a) Encouraged to do it more, while...
b) Exhibiting plausible self-punishment when caught, to maintain group ties.
The former explains the increased reward, the latter the social behavior aspect.
It’s specifically the “I have something unpleasant to do, and I’m not doing it!” that’s exciting. I’ll play even a bad game when I have work to avoid.