Laziness
Some people fail to exercise regularly despite knowing the risks of inactivity.
This paper was brought to my attention in the discord community, concluding:
These results suggest that additional cortical resources were required to counteract an attraction to sedentary behaviors.
In other words, it requires more effort to be active.
Obvious, right...
What interests me is the authors' emphasis on a cognitive tax.
Apparently not the same as cognitive load, but sounds conceptually the same.
So, can we think our way out of being lazy?
Behaviours
Controlled and automatic processes were described as part of health behaviours.
An automatic process using a lower cognitive tax.
Controlled processes using conscious intention, thus a higher tax.
So…
Asking ‘do I sit down’ automatically triggers a drive to sit down.
Be inactive.
However, that automatic drive may conflict with the intention to be physically active.
‘I should do something’
The paper goes over:
Attentional capture.
Affective reactions.
Approach tendencies.
As they are important for regulating exercise behaviours.
I think it’s obvious.
Conscious thought has a higher cognitive tax.
But…
Can we make the automatic response, the one with a lower tax?
Make our default, be active.
Cost minimization
behaviors supporting cost minimization activate automatic processes
Essentially, no.
Less effort is what the body automatically wants.
Our default setting is lazy; apparently...
However, the study looked at the differences between active and inactive people.
The figure below shows neural activity with shapes relating to activities.
The results shown below.
The result I was most interested in was that active participants were faster at avoiding sedentary stimuli, compared to physical activity.
Which suggests to me that laziness can be trained, or de-trained.
De-training laziness
Saying, “be active, and you are less likely to be inactive” is not helpful.
At least, I don't think it will persuade most people.
However,
avoiding sedentary behaviors was more difficult in less physically active individuals.
Which gets me thinking about the concept of embodied cognition.
If cognition includes our body, and the cognitive tax includes our bodies, then the tax is also physical.
We can think our way out of laziness.
Not because of mental toughness, will, or any other brain based concept.
But because our cognitive tax includes our bodies as well.
Related idea
Putting blame on a cognitive tax traditionally magnifies the brain.
Magnifies a part of the person.
But stepping back a bit.
Taking an alternative approach.
If cognition includes the body, even parts of the world.
Then thinking yourself out of laziness is the only way.
However, we all know the advice.
Just get started.
Act. Etc…
Well, if it was that easy, behaviour change wouldn't be so hard.
So the thinking we need to do is embodied within our behaviour.
And that is what I am learning about.