<p>I have read, quite a lot about willpower in the past year or so. It says that is: &quot;willpower is the ability to resist short-term temptations in order to meet long-term goals.&quot;. Some say it's limited and some say that it is unlimited. Now, from my experience, I sometimes can do hard things in an instant, and sometimes it's almost impossible. Even though it's just the beginning of a day. So, I thought of willpower as a state which you change with conscious action. In order to do something else, you have to beat some activation energy, which is the assumed reward of the things you want to avoid. How wrong am I? Why?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-12-01T12:52:34.713Z
Welcome to Psychology.SE. What do you mean by a state? State of being? State of mind or mental state?....
Chris Rogers
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-12-01T14:58:52.237Z
Imagine the inputs a mouse's brain receives: stomach→hunger; eyes→cheese,wood-and-metal-thing; ears→footsteps; nose→food,cat; memory→food,hurt; alternatives→eat,run,keep-still; etc.
The mouse doesn't "think", it simply follows whichever signal is the strongest at the time.
Humans get all the same inputs, but they also have a mind that can examine them and consider the possible effects of the various alternatives.
They can consciously choose to ignore the strongest signal and take a different action.
Willpower is simply the ability to use free will to ignore natural instinct and reflex.
Ray Butterworth
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-12-01T15:43:34.030Z
@RayButterworth free will may not actually exist https://psychology.stackexchange.com/q/10982/7604
Chris Rogers
<free-will><willpower>
What is willpower? Can it be called a "state"
LaukyS
# What is willpower? Can it be called a "state"

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-12-01)

I have read, quite a lot about willpower in the past year or so. It says that is: "willpower is the ability to resist short-term temptations in order to meet long-term goals.". Some say it's limited and some say that it is unlimited. Now, from my experience, I sometimes can do hard things in an instant, and sometimes it's almost impossible. Even though it's just the beginning of a day. So, I thought of willpower as a state which you change with conscious action. In order to do something else, you have to beat some activation energy, which is the assumed reward of the things you want to avoid. How wrong am I? Why?

**Tags:** free-will, willpower

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Welcome to Psychology.SE. What do you mean by a state? State of being? State of mind or mental state?....  
> **username_2**: Imagine the inputs a mouse's brain receives: stomach→hunger; eyes→cheese,wood-and-metal-thing; ears→footsteps; nose→food,cat; memory→food,hurt; alternatives→eat,run,keep-still; etc. The mouse doesn't "think", it simply follows whichever signal is the strongest at the time. Humans get all the same inputs, but they also have a mind that can examine them and consider the possible effects of the various alternatives. They can consciously choose to ignore the strongest signal and take a different action. Willpower is simply the ability to use free will to ignore natural instinct and reflex.  
> **username_1**: @RayButterworth free will may not actually exist https://psychology.stackexchange.com/q/10982/7604  

---

## 0 answers

