Dr. Kentaro Fujita
👤 SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
Abstinence, as I just mentioned, leads to really rigid behaviors.
But computationally, the choice is already pre-decided for you.
You sit down.
It's Monday, 5 o'clock.
That's your exercise time.
You don't have a choice.
If you're following an abstinent strategy, the choice is made for you.
It's really easy.
So it's computationally simple.
In principle, if you can hold on to that, it makes much more rapid progress because you never take a step back.
You're always going towards the goal.
But there are some tradeoffs with this, like the rigidity.
So it's Monday 5 p.m., it's your daughter's wedding, but you're getting the workout in.
Why?
That lack of flexibility is kind of crazy.
Once the pattern is broken, it's all or none.
It's gone.
So if you're abstinent and you have a lapse, the goal is done.
You can't go back.
My point here is that there are some tradeoffs between abstinence and moderation, and we are really interested in trying to understand why people choose one versus the other,