"So too we become just by doing just acts, temperate by doing temperate acts, brave by doing brave acts." Peter Ubel quotes Aristotle in the final paragraphs of his book, Free Market Madness, with an appeal that we "Return to Aristotle." His hope is that in doing so our society would foster an environment that develops virtuous actions in its citizens, particularly through the development of self-control.
It's somewhat ironic to me that after 222 pages of explaining how inadequate humans are at behaving rationally in their own interest - unable to save money or restrict their intake of fatty foods, for example - Peter Ubel ends his book with the hope that we might teach the next generation to develop stronger will power. Ironic perhaps, but right on the money, I think. This is particularly true when we think about the early development of self-control as the development of delayed gratification.
Delay of gratification in childhood has been documented in psychological research as a predictor of later success in a variety of domains. And, as Peter Ubel argues in the closing paragraphs of his book, it is a foundational skill that we should put more emphasis on in the education of our children, both formally and informally.
It's really quite fascinating to me that so many people excuse their inability to exercise self-control. Certainly the epidemic of obesity in the U.S. and the dismal lack of savings as Peter documents in his book stand as grave indictments of this lack of self-regulation. Now, a new generation of "Web-addicted multi-tasking, social-networking, gamers" want to make dilatory behavior a virtue. It isn't. We've simply become a generation of people who amuse ourselves to death.
Peter's closing section on self-control was too brief, I think. I want to add to this now with some thoughts of my own, extending what we mean by developing self-control.
The will and skill of self-control
I think that the devleopment of self-control is a propaedeutic lesson - from the Greek propaideuein: to teach beforehand. Propaedeutic is the appropriate word here in our return to Aristotle. Truly, self-control is propaedeutic, necessary preparatory study, to just about every other skill in our lives.
Yes, recent research indicates that we can strengthen self-control like a muscle, increasing our willpower. However there's more to it than that.
Successful volitional action, successful self-regulation, is a combination of will and skill. Strong muscles may be necessary to an athlete, for example, but not sufficient to achieve excellence in a sport. Specific skills must be learned.
In the case of self-control, this includes meta-cognitive skills in goal setting. Things like: the ability to plan effectively and monitor activity in relation to goals, and to seek help as required. We can teach our children these important skills, and in doing so, they will exercise the self-control "muscles" they need at the same time.
In a world so influenced by advertising, advertising that has become increasingly sophisticated by "mining" personal data; in a world so complex and global in nature; in a world where our biological history has created evolutionary programs that undermine our ability to stay healthy through overeating; in a world where we need to change our habits of energy consumption to save the very atmosphere we depend on -
we may need strengthened will and skill like never before.
Self-control may be the most important legacy we can leave the next generation in preparation for the difficult choices that lay ahead of them.
