Like many readers of this blog, and probably the vast majority of Americans, I followed last week’s headlines with anxiety and concern. Almost every day there was a new story about people being sent pipe bombs, and on Saturday there was a mass shooting in Pittsburgh (only a five-minute drive from where I used to live, and where some of my friends still do). While many words have already been written about these events, I would like to add one more thought which I haven’t yet heard anyone mention.
It seems that part of the problem is one of willpower. While I firmly disagree with the nationalist and racist ideologies that led both the bomber and shooter to carry out their actions, the reason why both chose now to become violent seems in part the result of the fact that both felt they could no longer wait to confront the supposed threats they saw the country facing. Their feelings of anger, fear, and hate overwhelmed the part of their mind that kept those emotions controlled. Racism and nationalism need to be confronted, but we should also encourage people to develop their willpower. Neuroscience tells us this can be done and provides advice for doing so (I recommend the book The Willpower Instinct to anyone wanting to learn more), but from what I know about the school systems in the USA, it is not something teachers take much time to talk about. Perhaps the improvement of that skill should be higher on our agenda. That way, our society will be more under our control and less dictated by emotions. Here are some readings on that topic:
- Chandra Sekhar Sripada, “How is Willpower Possible? The Puzzle of Synchronic Self-Control and the Divided Mind,” Nous, March 2014.
- Thomas Connor, “Self-control, willpower and the problem of diminished motivation,” Philosophical Studies, April 2014.
- Luca Ferrero, “Willing, Wanting, Waiting,” Journal of Moral Philosophy, 2012.
- Annemaria Kalis, “Self‐Control as a Normative Capacity,” Ratio, April 2018.
- Birgit Schaffar, “Changing the Definition of Education. On Kant’s Educational Paradox Between Freedom and Restraint,” Studies in Philosophy & Education, January 2014.
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