Decision Fatigue
Aug. 22nd, 2011 11:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dr_tectonicSo here's a really interesting article in the NY Times Magazine on "Decision Fatigue". I strongly recommend it.
The thing I find fascinating is the idea that when I say something like "I've run out of cope", it's not just a metaphor. There's some reality behind that.
And I think it's important to recognize the willpower tax of living under stress. I think we find it really hard to acknowledge just how contextual our decisions really are. We have this mythology of the self that says that people make choices as an expression of their inner nature, that good decisions come from moral fiber and inherent goodness, while bad decisions come from weakness and innate unworthiness, when in fact it's much much fuzzier than that. We say "oh, I would never make that choice," but in fact, in their shoes? You might. And that's scary, so instead of responding with compassion, we cast judgment as a way of distancing ourselves from the frightening reality that we don't have nearly as much control over our lives as we believe.
Also interesting is the point that people who manage decision fatigue well often do so not by having greater reserves of willpower, but by structuring their lives so they don't have to expend much of it under normal circumstances.
I think you could use that as a metric of civilization: the more a culture structures its context to allow its members to be the best they can, the better a civilization it is...
The thing I find fascinating is the idea that when I say something like "I've run out of cope", it's not just a metaphor. There's some reality behind that.
And I think it's important to recognize the willpower tax of living under stress. I think we find it really hard to acknowledge just how contextual our decisions really are. We have this mythology of the self that says that people make choices as an expression of their inner nature, that good decisions come from moral fiber and inherent goodness, while bad decisions come from weakness and innate unworthiness, when in fact it's much much fuzzier than that. We say "oh, I would never make that choice," but in fact, in their shoes? You might. And that's scary, so instead of responding with compassion, we cast judgment as a way of distancing ourselves from the frightening reality that we don't have nearly as much control over our lives as we believe.
Also interesting is the point that people who manage decision fatigue well often do so not by having greater reserves of willpower, but by structuring their lives so they don't have to expend much of it under normal circumstances.
I think you could use that as a metric of civilization: the more a culture structures its context to allow its members to be the best they can, the better a civilization it is...
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Date: 2011-08-23 05:22 am (UTC)I also like the idea of structuring life to only have to make a single hard decision - save the willpower to buy healthy groceries so that when I'm home I don't have to exert willpower to eat healthy, etc.
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Date: 2011-08-23 11:07 am (UTC)The interesting philosophical connection that this article does not explore, is the conflation of 'choice' with 'freedom.' In the consumer sphere it's things like choosing options on you shoes, making them 'customizable.' I've always suspected that while people enjoy the novelty, they don't actually want the options. That a limited spectrum offers more opportunities for sell...
But more importantly, there's the question if we're always deciding what toilet paper to buy (and the green movement has made shopping very difficult) we won't make good decisions in other spheres of our lives... not just on the sugary snack, spectrum, but how we treat our fellow human.
The example with the judge insinuates the weight of moral decision and how it's impacted by fatique, but this article doesn't take it very far.
I suspect much of this is why I dislike shopping. And i am guilty of not choosing --- or limiting the sphere of choice --- in order to cope. I'm only beginning to meet some of the negative long term consequences... guess I'll go eat a candybar. ;)
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Date: 2011-08-23 05:30 pm (UTC)If something new comes on the market, I only have to compare it to the default. By the end of a year, I had improved all the most used foods in my house, without feeling overwhelmed or deprived.
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Date: 2011-08-23 12:04 pm (UTC)The article brought a rush of memories for me in addition to things to ponder. Dr. Baumeister was a brand new professor at CWRU and organized the experimental subject pool when I was an undergrad. Students in introductory psychology classes had a requirement to participate in a number of experiments. I never took his class in social psych (wish I did) but remember a very gangly prof who barely looked older than the students. Finding his faculty page he filled out and aged rather well. I am glad to see that he is doing cool things!
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Date: 2011-08-23 02:41 pm (UTC)Sometimes at the end of the day I sit here and think, should I go get a Diet Coke and read at Arby's before the bus comes? Or Amigo's? And by the time the bus comes I'm still sitting here and just go home instead. In my defense, Arby's and Amigo's are both horrible.
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Date: 2011-08-23 04:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-23 04:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-23 05:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-23 05:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-23 09:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-24 12:47 am (UTC)Brow-beating, in other words, is actually an effective attack. :-P
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Date: 2011-08-24 02:59 am (UTC)I know I try to have systems for everything so I don't have to think about everything I do (things like "where do the car keys go", and "what happens to the mail"