Extracts:
Mischel has also helped redefine willpower. While we typically think of willpower as a matter of gritting our teeth and outlasting the temptation – staring down the marshmallow, so to speak – Mischel realized that this assumption was backwards. Instead, the ability of delay gratification depended on the “strategic allocation of attention,” a fancy way of saying that some kids know how to distract themselves. Instead of obsessing over the marshmallow – the “hot stimulus” – these patient children covered their eyes or looked away. Their desire wasn’t defeated – it was merely forgotten. “Kids who can delay gratification have a much more realistic understanding of willpower,” Mischel told me. “They know that willpower is very limited. If you’re thinking about the marshmallow and how delicious it is, then you’re going to eat it. The key is to avoid thinking about it in the first place.” There is, of course, something unsettling about this new model of willpower, since it assumes the utter weakness of the will. Resistance is only possible when we’re not actively trying to resist.
Needless to say, these questions have profound policy implications. As I’ve written before, there’s good evidence that self-control can be significantly improved, at least when the training begins at an early age. What we have to do now is develop new lesson plans: Every kid needs to know that they don’t have to eat the marshmallow. Their inferior frontal gyrus can say no.
Vía Francisco Capella.
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