Choose the one that fits best according to the information
given in the passage you have just read.
Like their ancient toga-wearing counterparts,
modern philosophers continue to disagree on the nature of freewill. Do we
really have any control over the choices we make and the things we desire, and
if so, to what degree?
Theories of freewill vary, but the ancient
words of Plato still line up with our modern perceptions(概念) of temptation and willpower. The respected Greek
philosopher argued that the human experience is one of constant struggle
between the intellect and the body, between rationality and desire. Along these
lines, true freedom is only achievable when willpower unchains us from bodily,
emotional, instinctual slavery.
You can find similar thoughts throughout
world religions, most of which offer a particular and often difficult path to
rise above our darker natures.
And
science? Well, science mostly agrees with all of this. Willpower is all about
overcoming your natural desires to eat cupcakes, skip your morning workout,
play games on mobile phone, hit the snooze alarm and check your e-mail during a
funeral.
Your willpower, however, is limited. If
life were a video game, you'd see a glowing "willpower" or "ego"(自我) meter at the top of the screen next
to your "life" meter. Successfully resist one temptation, and the
meter drains a little. The next temptation drains the "willpower"
meter even more, until there's nothing left at all.
Our modern scientific understanding of
willpower in large part stems from a 1996 research experiment involving
chocolate and radishes(小红萝卜). Psychologist Roy Baumeister led a
study in which 67 test subjects were presented with tempting chocolate chip
cookies and other chocolate-flavored treats before a persistence-testing
puzzle. Here's the catch: The researchers asked some of the participants to
withdraw from sweets and snack on radishes instead.
Baumeister's results told a fascinating
story. The test subjects who resisted the sweet stuff in favor of radishes
performed poorly on the persistence test. They simply didn't have the willpower
left to resist slacking off(松懈).
The research inspired more than a thousand
additional studies discussing everything from the influence of positive
messages to the ego-sapping power of daily decisions.
Studies also show that cognitive capacity
also affects our ability to hold out against temptation. Cognitive capacity is
essentially your working memory, which you employ when resisting a temptation… or
holding a string of numbers in your head. A 1999 study from the University of
Iowa professor Baba Shiv found that people tasked with remembering a two-digit
number held out better than people remembering a seven-digit number when
tempted with chocolate cake.