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Willpower

TagLast edit: Sep 2, 2020, 6:51 AM by Kaj_Sotala

Willpower is the ability to overcome urges to do or not some activity– to overcome temptation. Typically there is a sense of coercing oneself to do things despite inner resistance.

Willpower is of interest those who wish to increase their productivity or otherwise do more thing that they wish to be done. The question then is “how does one increase willpower?”

There is an argument that the use of willpower is undesirable. The use of willpower my constitute a form of inner violence which is in tension with inner alignment of one’s parts– a better path to productivity and wellbeing.

Related: Akrasia

Resources

Toward A Bayesian The­ory Of Willpower

Scott AlexanderMar 26, 2021, 2:33 AM
104 points
28 comments6 min readLW link

Notes on Self-Control

David GrossNov 9, 2020, 9:27 PM
9 points
0 comments10 min readLW link

Self-em­pa­thy as a source of “willpower”

AcademianOct 26, 2010, 2:20 PM
83 points
32 comments2 min readLW link

Hero Licensing

Eliezer YudkowskyNov 21, 2017, 9:13 PM
241 points
83 comments52 min readLW link

Does Think­ing Hard Hurt Your Brain?

RaemonApr 29, 2018, 6:56 PM
19 points
38 comments1 min readLW link

Solv­ing willpower seems eas­ier than solv­ing aging

Yair HalberstadtMar 23, 2025, 3:25 PM
53 points
27 comments1 min readLW link

Mo­ral­ity is not about willpower

PhilGoetzOct 8, 2011, 1:33 AM
20 points
146 comments13 min readLW link

Willpower: not a limited re­source?

Jess_RiedelOct 25, 2010, 12:06 PM
39 points
28 comments1 min readLW link

Pain is not the unit of Effort

alkjashNov 24, 2020, 8:00 PM
562 points
91 comments5 min readLW link2 reviews
(radimentary.wordpress.com)

Spam­ming Micro-In­ten­tions to Gen­er­ate Willpower

moridinamaelFeb 13, 2018, 8:16 PM
45 points
23 comments3 min readLW link

Policy-Based vs Willpower-Based Intentions

UnrealFeb 28, 2019, 5:17 AM
56 points
14 comments4 min readLW link

Not-Use­less Ad­vice For Deal­ing With Things You Don’t Want to Do

Rafael HarthApr 4, 2022, 4:37 PM
54 points
11 comments6 min readLW link

Willpower Hax #487: Ex­e­cute by Default

Eliezer YudkowskyMay 12, 2009, 6:46 AM
84 points
59 comments1 min readLW link

When Willpower Attacks

jimrandomhOct 3, 2009, 3:36 AM
22 points
77 comments3 min readLW link

My Ham­mer­time Fi­nal Exam

moridinamaelMar 22, 2018, 6:40 PM
16 points
2 comments2 min readLW link

Ayn Rand’s model of “liv­ing money”; and an up­side of burnout

AnnaSalamonNov 16, 2024, 2:59 AM
218 points
58 comments5 min readLW link

Willpower De­ple­tion vs Willpower Distraction

AcademianJun 15, 2014, 6:29 PM
110 points
25 comments2 min readLW link

Order­ing your­self around with an app

bfinnDec 7, 2021, 12:49 AM
9 points
2 comments4 min readLW link

Books Wor­thy of Integration

Roven SkyfalFeb 20, 2022, 8:03 AM
15 points
3 comments3 min readLW link

Im­prov­ing pro­duc­tivity and wellbeing

ValdesMay 4, 2022, 12:15 PM
11 points
1 comment11 min readLW link

My scorched-earth policy on New Year’s resolutions

PatrickDFarleyDec 29, 2022, 2:45 PM
29 points
2 comments4 min readLW link

Akra­sia and Shangri-La

Eliezer YudkowskyApr 10, 2009, 8:53 PM
53 points
97 comments2 min readLW link

Iden­ti­fy­ing Micro-fric­tion in the Con­text of the An­te­rior Mid-Cin­gu­late Cor­tex (aMCC)

Jaehyuk LimMar 29, 2024, 10:11 PM
3 points
0 comments3 min readLW link

Alien­able (not Inalien­able) Right to Buy

FlorianHJan 1, 2025, 12:19 PM
7 points
6 comments4 min readLW link

Chaotic Inversion

Eliezer YudkowskyNov 29, 2008, 10:57 AM
108 points
68 comments1 min readLW link

Ap­plied Picoeconomics

Scott AlexanderJun 17, 2009, 4:08 PM
62 points
85 comments4 min readLW link

The AI Align­ment Prob­lem Has Already Been Solved(?) Once

SquirrelInHellApr 22, 2017, 1:24 PM
55 points
45 comments4 min readLW link
(squirrelinhell.blogspot.com)

Study: Mak­ing de­ci­sions makes you tired

bgrah449Feb 19, 2010, 8:27 PM
31 points
6 comments1 min readLW link

[Question] What is the state of the ego de­ple­tion field?

Eli TyreAug 9, 2019, 8:30 PM
27 points
10 comments1 min readLW link

Flashes of Nondecisionmaking

lionhearted (Sebastian Marshall)Jan 27, 2014, 2:30 PM
44 points
34 comments3 min readLW link

Willpower duality

GyrodiotJan 20, 2017, 9:56 AM
10 points
8 comments2 min readLW link
(www.jrmyp.net)

Book Sum­mary: Willpower by Baumeister, Tierney

DorikkaMay 24, 2012, 11:34 PM
36 points
27 comments2 min readLW link

The Phys­iol­ogy of Willpower

pjebyJun 18, 2009, 4:11 AM
25 points
36 comments1 min readLW link

[Link] Dilbert au­thor tries to try

MileyCyrusSep 12, 2011, 4:24 PM
35 points
20 comments1 min readLW link