BARGAINING AMONG MY SELVES.

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 change over time. I want to eat the cake now, but I know that when I get on the scale, I will feel differently about my choice. One way of dealing with this is analogous to Ulysses, who had himself tied to the mast so he could listen to the Sirens, but not yield to them. You can commit yourself and thereby resist temptation—say by announcing to others that you are on a diet so that you will be embarrassed when they see you eat cake. Ainslie gives the example of a movie star who pays a financial spender to keep him from spending his own money.