About Akrasia

"No one goes willingly towards the bad."
(Socrates)

We've all done it before, delaying the time to do an important work. That which is called procrastination. Writers are among those who procrastinate the most, and they try all kinds of tricks to get around it. It is said that behind great novels there is a story of procrastination that is no less great.

Herman Melville is said to be chained by his wife to his desk to force him to finish writing his epic novel Moby Dick. Victor Hugo told his assistant to lock all his clothes away in  a large chest so that he has nothing to wear out to parties and forced to stay at home to finish writing The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Margaret Atwood calls herself a "world-class procrastinator". Her morning routine consists of puttering around and stressing throughout the morning until her anxiety wears off and only starts writing around three in the afternoon. Even so she became a successful writer, in the five decades of her writing career she has published 14 novels, 9 short stories collections, 16 poetry books, 8 children's books and 10 nonfiction books.

Putting off important work is a form of avoiding what we know we should be doing. We know it's good and must be done, but we don't do it. This is a human nature. And the Greek philosophers, who had always been perceptive to the basic nature of human, had discussed this matter since long ago. They call this attitude of not following our best thinking as akrasia. Akrasia is a Greek word that translates to "weakness of will, acting against our better judgment."

 

I experience akrasia, for example, when I saw the results of my medical check-up. The results of my last medical examination showed that my cholesterol level was above normal limits. Everything else, thank goodness, is still normal. On the last page of the check-up report, contained a series of things that were suggested for me to maintain my health. It said, I have to avoid foods that contain animal fats, reduce fried foods, increase consumption of fruits and vegetables, and exercise for about 30-60 minutes every day. I know it. However, unfortunately, you do not necessarily do what you know.

Knowledge does not directly provide strong motivation for action. I'm no diferent from any smokers or addicts. What I believe is good for me I don't always do. Almost all heavy smokers know very well the consequences of their addiction. They admit that it would be better for them to break the habit. Still, most heavy smokers find it very difficult to quit smoking. Perhaps while enjoying his cigarette puff, a question slipped in his mind with a slight regret, "Why do I keep smoking when I know it would be better for me to quit?"

 

Why do we tend not to do what we believe is good for us? Why don't the things that we know give us strong enough motivation to follow them? This is the questions that we try to answer here. 

In one of Plato's dialogues, Socrates is told of asking a simple question: if a person believes that a certain thing is the best thing to do, why would he do the opposite?  Socrates was of the view that people will only choose what they think is best, because "no one goes willingly towards the bad." 

So, according to Plato and Socrates, essentially akrasia does not exist. Akrasia is a moral defect, when people make decisions that are different from what they believe to be good. Choosing bad only happens because of not knowing what is good, it is not a conscious choice.

Aristotle took a more nuanced approach. According to him there are two types of akrasia. The first is driven by strong passions such as anger or deep love, which make people lose their minds and make irrational decisions. Second, akrasia caused by personal weakness. In contrast to the former, weak individuals are well aware of the consequences of their choices, but still do things that are not what they believe to be good.

 

For me, akrasia occurs because it doesn't feel urgent. Urgency provides a stronger impetus than mere knowledge. In the case of the check-up results above. I feel like it is not urgent enough to follow the suggestions at the moment so that I feel like I can put off implementing them. 

We live in a relationship with many influences, while that lab result is an examination performed by isolating a single phenomenon. It could be that by not doing the things suggested, it actually makes me happier, which might results in improved health. Our mind is indeed exceptionally good at providing justification for whatever we choose to do.

Anyway, this need for urgency indicates that we prefer something that has immediate effect. Something with immediate effect is more preferable than waiting for the results of a habit that need to be planted for a long time. We love instant gratification and rewards. We tend to focus more on today on what is near than on the distant future.

This tendency can actually be used to overcome akrasia. When there is something that needs to be done but we are too lazy to do it, try giving yourself a gift that you feel is as urgent and important. By doing that, we move the urgency from having to do the work itself to the rewards that we craved and will be earned.

How about watching the latest movie on Netflix while folding clothes, for example, or pampering yourself at the spa after finishing an important report. Watching a follow-up drama series as a reward for exercising. The next episode can only be watched after swimming back and forth 10 times or running 10 km?

In that way, we may fulfill the pleasures of the present, as well as getting the dreaded obligation done and fulfil the needs for the future-self. 

Will it be motivating enough? You can try.

Indonesian version