Should Uplifting Music and Smart Phone Apps Count as Willpower Doping? The Extended Will and the Ethics of Enhanced Motivation

摘要

Our motivation isn't always what we would like it to be. Owing to fatigue, laziness, boredom, or anxiety, our inclinations are sometimes out of alignment with our core goals and values. In such cases, realizing authentically held goals requires overcoming our inclinations, pulling ourselves together, and getting things done. If the motivation isn't there, we need to get ourselves motivated, and this may require that we undertake indirect and even somewhat manipulative measures with ourselves. This wouldn't be necessary, of course, if we could always increase our motivation simply by reviewing the reasons for doing something we don't feel like doing. Realistically, however, virtually all of us regularly need to find other, non-reason-based means of increasing our motivation or making tedious tasks bearable. We play uplifting music to improve our mood; we set up little "treats" for ourselves to incentivize completing a boring task; and we cue up a series of tasks so that all we have to do is "crank the widgets."