[From Fred Nickols (2010.06.03.2033 PDT)]
If ever you wanted an example of the kind of bullshit that passes itself off
as "scientific research" here's an instance for you. It seems to me there
is a giant leap between the observation and the conclusion but what do I
know?
Regards,
Fred Nickols
www.nickols.us
fred@nickols.us
···
-----Original Message-----
From: odnet-bounces@lists.odnetwork.org
[mailto:odnet-bounces@lists.odnetwork.org] On Behalf Of peter altschul
Sent: Thursday, June 03, 2010 8:07 PM
To: Odnetwork
Subject: [Odnet] Self-Control Is Exhaustible
Why Change Is So Hard: Self-Control Is Exhaustible
By: Dan HeathJune 2, 2010
You hear something a lot about change: People won't change
because they're too
lazy. Well, I'm here to stick up for the lazy people. In fact,
I want to argue
that what looks like laziness is actually exhaustion. The proof
comes from a
psychology study that is absolutely fascinating.
So picture this: Students come into a lab. It smells
amazing-someone has just
baked chocolate-chip cookies. On a table in front of them, there
are two bowls.
One has the fresh-baked cookies. The other has a bunch of
radishes. Some of the
students are asked to eat some cookies but no radishes. Others
are told to eat
radishes but no cookies, and while they sit there, nibbling on
rabbit food, the
researchers leave the room -- which is intended to tempt them and
is frankly kind
of sadistic. But in the study none of the radish-eaters slipped
-- they showed
admirable self-control. And meanwhile, it probably goes without
saying that the
people gorging on cookies didn't experience much temptation.
Then, the two groups are asked to do a second, seemingly
unrelated
task-basically a kind of logic puzzle where they have to trace
out a complicated
geometric pattern without raising their pencil. Unbeknownst to
them, the puzzle
can't be solved. The scientists are curious how long they'll
persist at a
difficult task. So the cookie-eaters try again and again, for an
average of 19
minutes, before they give up. But the radish-eaters-they only
last an average of
8 minutes. What gives?
The answer may surprise you: They ran out of self-control.
Psychologists have
discovered that self-control is an exhaustible resource. And I
don't mean
self-control only in the sense of turning down cookies or
alcohol, I mean a
broader sense of self-supervision-any time you're paying close
attention to your
actions, like when you're having a tough conversation or trying
to stay focused
on a paper you're writing. This helps to explain why, after a
long hard day at
the office, we're more likely to snap at our spouses or have one
drink too
many-we've depleted our self-control.
And here's why this matters for change: In almost all change
situations, you're
substituting new, unfamiliar behaviors for old, comfortable ones,
and that burns
self-control. Let's say I present a new morning routine to you
that specifies
how you'll shower and brush your teeth. You'll understand it and
you might even
agree with my process. But to pull it off, you'll have to
supervise yourself
very carefully. Every fiber of your being will want to go back
to the old way of
doing things. Inevitably, you'll slip. And if I were
uncharitable, I'd see you
going back to the old way and I'd say, You're so lazy. Why can't
you just
change?
This brings us back to the point I promised I'd make: That what
looks like
laziness is often exhaustion. Change wears people out-even
well-intentioned
people will simply run out of fuel.
Copyright B) 2010 Mansueto Ventures LLC. All rights reserved.
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