From: Daniel Reeves dreeves@umich.edu
Date: Tue, Jul 19, 2011 at 09:44
Subject: Re: Multiple Personalities
Ha, thanks Alex, sounds clever!
On multiple selves, a couple tidbits from my akrasia magnum opus,
How To Do What You Want: Akrasia and Self-Binding | Beeminder Blog :
“[footnote 2] Although I’m using the multiple selves terminology, I
view it as no more than a rhetorical device. There are not multiple
selves in any real sense. Rather, as I will argue, there’s in fact
just one true you whose decision-making is sometimes distorted in the
presence of immediate consequences, which act like a drug. Which is to
say (as an empirical fact) that when a decision involves some
consequences that are immediate and some that are distant, humans
irrationally (no amount of future discounting can account for it)
over-weight the immediate consequences. So I refer to multiple selves
but I believe there is one true self: the one not under the influence
of immediate consequences.”
And in the Further Reading section: A Paul Bloom article in The
Atlantic, “First Person Plural”, on the multiple selves theory of
akrasia: First Person Plural - The Atlantic
Running with the multiple selves interpretation, Beeminder takes the
position that for many of us, the short-term self is a little out of
control and we need tools for the long-term self to make the
short-term self its bitch. Otherwise it’s the other way around:
Whenever it’s time to actually take any specific action it’s
short-term self at the reigns.
Beeminder: show your short-term self who’s boss
Hmm, I guess I’ll add that to our list of taglines at
Beetherpad (we have some similar ones already)
Thanks, Alex, for bringing this up.
On Tue, Jul 19, 2011 at 09:21, kar1k@gmx.de wrote:
Hi,
in one of the beeminder blog articles I read about something like a
multiple personality theory of akrasia. I found it quite plausible and
it reminded me of a novel I read years ago: “Set this house in order”
by Matt Ruff.
The protagonist in this book suffers from some sort of multiple
personality disorder. The theory presented says that the best remedy
for a situation like this is to find a way for the separate
personalities to coexist with each other.
This is done by constructing some kind of house in the mind. There are
lots of different rooms for all personality aspects, and there’s a
small balcony where all personalities can go to take active control.
So the question is: What are reasonable house rules and how do I get
my different parts to accept them.
Really clever book!
Alex
–
http://dreev.es – search://“Daniel Reeves”
Follow the Yellow Brick Road – http://beeminder.com
–
http://dreev.es – search://“Daniel Reeves”
Follow the Yellow Brick Road – http://beeminder.com