Ego-depletion sounds like it involves some form of self, does it not? So does the self-control when avoiding eating the marshmallow. Who is making decisions and avoiding temptation if not the self? In his book, The Ego Trick, philosopher Julian Baggini points out that it is impossible to talk about the mental processes and behaviours of a person without invoking the ego approach.51 We find it difficult to imagine how decisions and behaviours could equally arise without a self. For example, we often hear that addicts cannot control themselves, but is that really true? Are they totally at the mercy of the drugs and behaviours that ruin their lives? No one is denying that addiction is a really difficult problem to overcome but even the addict can avoid drugs if some immediate consequence looms larger. Few addicts would take that next drink or inject that drug if a gun was placed to their forehead. Clearly, in these situations the imminent threat of death trumps so-called uncontrollable urges. They are only uncontrollable in some contexts in which the competing influences do not match up to the allure of intoxication. The problem for addicts then is that the negative consequences of their behaviours do not match up to the immediate gratification that their addictions provide.52 They would prefer to not be addicted but that requires prolonged abstention, which is more difficult. When we talk about choices made by individuals, there are multiple influences and drives that compete for those decisions. Many of these arise from external circumstances.
Even if the self and our ability to exercise free will is an illusion, not all is lost. In fact, beliefs seem to produce consequences in our behaviour. The ego-depletion we have just described appears to only work in those individuals who believe that willpower is a limited resource.53 In other words, if we think that our self-control is limited, then we show ego-depletion. If we don’t believe in limited self-control, we don’t show ego-depletion.
Beliefs about self-control, from wherever they may derive, are powerful motivators of human behaviour. For example, consider ten-year-old children who were told that their performance on a test was either due to their natural intelligence or their ability to work hard.54 Both sets were then given a really difficult second task that was well beyond their capability, which no one could complete. However, in a third test, the children who thought their initial successes on the first task were due to their intelligence also gave up more easily because they attributed their failure on the second task to their limited natural ability, which made them less likely to persevere on the last task. In contrast, children who thought their performance was all down to hard work not only stuck longer on the third task, but also enjoyed it more. So it’s better to tell your kids that they are hard workers rather than simply smart.
The same can be said for free will. When we believe that we are the masters of our own destiny, we behave differently than those who deny the existence of free will and believe everything is determined. This has been studied experimentally using priming. Priming is a way of changing our mindset by manipulating the sorts of information we are made to focus on. (Again, this is a strong indicator that our self is influenced by what we are exposed to!) Half the adults were primed to think in a determinist way by reading stories that refuted the existence of free will such as, ‘Ultimately, we are biological computers – designed by evolution, built through genetics, and programmed by the environment.’ The remaining adults read free-will-endorsing statements such as, ‘I am able to override the genetic and environmental factors that sometimes influence my behaviour.’ Adults who were primed to reject free will were much more likely to cheat on an arithmetic exam and overpaid themselves with greater rewards than adults who read the free will endorsements.55
To most of us, the absence of free will is tantamount to a determinism that sounds pretty much like fatalism – no matter what you do, you can’t change things. That’s a pretty demoralizing outlook on life that is bound to undermine any motivation to do anything. Maybe that’s why belief in free will predicts not only better job performance but also expected career success.56 Workers who believe in free will outperform their colleagues, and this is recognized and rewarded by their supervisors. So when we believe in free will, we enjoy life more.
The moral of the tale is that, even if free will doesn’t exist, then maybe it is best to ignore what the neuroscientists or philosophers say. Sometimes ignorance is bliss. The very act of believing means that you change the way you behave in ways that will benefit you. And the main reason this is true is that not only is it important for our self-motivation, but also for how others view us. We like people who are decisive because we believe they are positive and driven, and that makes most of us feel more comfortable than someone who can’t seem to reach a decision.
Finally, just because something doesn’t really exist doesn’t mean that believing that it does is pointless. Fantasy doesn’t really exist but the world would be a much more impoverished place without storytelling. Also, you cannot readily abandon the belief. As the one who has done the most to identify the Great Selfini, Wegner wrote, ‘If the illusion could be dispelled by explanation, I should be some kind of robot by now.’ You cannot escape the self illusion.
5
Why Our Choices Are Not Our Own
The point at which we feel that we are making a decision is often well after the fact, and yet it seems as if we were responsible in advance of making our choice. How we make decisions can also rely more on those around us than we realize, and we might not necessarily be the ones in charge. We may feel like we are making our own personal choices, but in many instances these are actually controlled by external influences of which we may not even be aware.
This is something advertisers have long known. Since the very first advertisements appeared in ancient Babylonia, vendors have realized that it pays to let people know the name of what you are selling.1 Our choices can be greatly influenced by what we are told, even though we may not be fully aware of this. In the twentieth century, it was thought that subtle marketing was the way forward to manipulate peoples’ choices. For example, in the 1950s cinema owners thought they could make the audience buy more drinks and popcorn by splicing single frames of pictures of products – too brief to be detected consciously – into the movie. The idea was that such subliminal images would register in the unconscious, leading the audience to think that they wanted to visit the foyer to purchase a soft drink; the advertisements could activate our minds below conscious awareness, making them even more potent. However, the scientific evidence for subliminal marketing is at best equivocal.2 Subtle messages do indeed shape our thoughts and behaviours, but when it comes to selling a soda drink, big, in-your-face advertising is best. This is why advertising sponsorship is so lucrative. Companies are prepared to spend large amounts of money just to get their brand in front of you because they know that people prefer a name they have heard, over one they have not. Given the choice between different brands, people reliably choose the one they recognize or that seems familiar.3