Oh! The metaphor I’ve been using with my clients for the thing I think you’re pointing at is reputation.
If the mind is a group (in this case a group of pattern predictors, but please also imagine it as a group of people), then ask yourself: How does a group of people (with no dictator) make a decision?
Well, they talk. They make bids.
Can one person use “willpower” and force the group to make a decision a particular way? Yes, if they make a strong enough bid and the rest of the group lets them. Why would the rest of the group let them? Reputation. But if they do that too many times with poor results, they lose their reputation and won’t be able to dictate the group anymore. “Willpower” lost.
I suspect this happens in the mind among pattern predictors, too. (I believe @Kaj_Sotala has written about this somewhere wrt Global Workspace Theory? I found this tweet in the meantime.) If a certain part of your mind lose reputation with the others parts, that part will lose reputation and won’t be able to make competitive bids anymore. That part’s “willpower” has decreased.
Oh! The metaphor I’ve been using with my clients for the thing I think you’re pointing at is reputation.
If the mind is a group (in this case a group of pattern predictors, but please also imagine it as a group of people), then ask yourself: How does a group of people (with no dictator) make a decision?
Well, they talk. They make bids.
Can one person use “willpower” and force the group to make a decision a particular way? Yes, if they make a strong enough bid and the rest of the group lets them. Why would the rest of the group let them? Reputation. But if they do that too many times with poor results, they lose their reputation and won’t be able to dictate the group anymore. “Willpower” lost.
I suspect this happens in the mind among pattern predictors, too. (I believe @Kaj_Sotala has written about this somewhere wrt Global Workspace Theory? I found this tweet in the meantime.) If a certain part of your mind lose reputation with the others parts, that part will lose reputation and won’t be able to make competitive bids anymore. That part’s “willpower” has decreased.