Monthly Archives: November 2008

DO I HAVE A WILL? George Ainslie describes some methods of binding yourself to resist temptation. One way is to establish a rule of behavior (such as “I only have desert after dinner.”) We could speak of using the rule … Continue reading →

PIGEONS DEFERRING GRATIFICATION. In a famous experiment, George Ainslie showed that some pigeons can bind themselves to resist temptation just as Ulysses tied himself to the mast. In the experiment, pecking a green key kept a pigeon from having the … Continue reading →

BARGAINING AMONG MY SELVES. In his article, Paul Bloom discusses George Ainslie’s research on bargaining among the “competing selves … inside your head.” In BREAKDOWN OF WILL, Ainslie analyzes the problems that arise when we know that our preferences will … Continue reading →

AND A DUCK. Mary Jane urged me to quote a wonderful sentence from Paul Bloom’s article. The sentence is about the perhaps excessive diagnosis of multiple-personality disorders: “One woman got a settlement of more than $2 million after alleging that … Continue reading →

DO I HAVE MANY SELVES? An article in the November Atlantic by Paul Bloom, a professor of psychology at Yale, reviews the work of researchers who look at human decisions as the result of contests between two or more selves … Continue reading →

TWO YEARS. I began this blog two years ago today. I want to thank Annalisa and Lee Bryant again for giving it to me. And thanks to all of you who have helped and encouraged me with it.