The concept of willpower holds significant importance both in our daily lives and in scientific literature. The discussions around “free will” in fields like philosophy, law, and religion, combined with the developments observed in neuroscience over the past century, underscore the rising importance of “willpower training” each passing day.

Willpower actually sits at an intriguing crossroads between science and behavior and emerges as a developmental task, effective not only for individuals themselves but also as a factor in societal change.[1] In a comprehensive study conducted by the American Psychological Association in 2012, willpower weakness was identified as one of the main obstacles to change.[2]

So, what exactly is this willpower that is said to have such an important role? Willpower is the inner strength to make decisions, take action, and follow through, regardless of internal or external resistance, discomfort, or challenges, in order to achieve a goal or complete a task. In short, it’s the ability to assert oneself.[3] According to psychology, it’s about rejecting instant gratification to reach something better; sacrificing immediate pleasure for a higher and more meaningful purpose. At the same time, it involves engaging the “cool, calm” Cognitive System instead of the “hot” Emotional System.[4]

The most popular study that brought willpower to the forefront is the “Marshmallow Test” conducted by Walter Mischel and his team at Stanford University in 1970. In this test with 4-5-year-old children, each child is taken to a playroom where they are shown a tray filled with marshmallows and told they can take one right away. They are then informed that if they wait for 15 minutes, they can have two instead. The room is intentionally stripped of all distractions like toys and books to make self-control more challenging. The research focused on a four-year-old child’s ability to resist immediate pleasure, divert their attention from the marshmallow, and engage with other activities. About one-third of the children ate the marshmallow immediately, one-third waited for a while before giving in, but only one-third managed to wait the full 15 minutes. Those who could resist the temptation of the treat were found to score higher on measures of self-regulation.

Psychologist Daniel Goleman talks about willpower, emphasizing that it’s about how we focus our attention, directing it towards one thing while ignoring others.[5] This ability is key to self-regulation and helps us resist distractions in real life and take control of our lives.

There’s been curiosity about how this skill contributes to our ability to manage distractions and control our lives. A study conducted in New Zealand looked at children who could resist candy for 15 minutes and examined their life achievements in adulthood. It found that these young people, as they aged, not only did better academically and in career planning, but they also had better emotional regulation and interpersonal communication skills. They exhibited greater adaptability, empathy, and a sense of security, and were more successful at avoiding criminal behavior and addictions.

It can be said that these kids with high self-control were more effective at calming the emotional and impulsive systems managed by our “hot system,” referred to as the emotional brain (amygdala). The “hot system” is responsible for quick, reflexive responses to certain triggers, acting in moments when we eat sweets without thinking. In contrast, the “cooling system” is a cognitive process that combines our senses, emotions, impulses, goals, and behaviors. This regulation is managed by the prefrontal cortex located in the frontal lobe of our upper brain, which allows us to question sudden impulsive desires and, despite emotional turmoil, shift our focus to soothe the active amygdala.

“In the arena of the mind, WILLPOWER is the wrestling match between the upper (cognitive system) and lower systems (emotional-instinctual).” Daniel Goleman

There is a metaphorical “muscle model” definition for willpower.[6] In other words, our willpower can be strengthened like a muscle through practice, but it can also get tired and requires rest like any muscle. In 1998, Roy Baumeister conducted a study (The Radish Experiment) demonstrating that willpower can be depleted, presenting the “Ego Depletion Theory,” which showed that using self-control resources on one task can reduce mental power for subsequent tasks.

In the study, participants were divided into three groups. While the control group waited in a separate room, the others were brought into a hall where some were given fresh, fragrant chocolate cookies they could eat during the meeting, while the other group was told they could only eat radishes. By the end of a half-hour discussion, the control group was invited into the hall, and all students were given an unsolvable geometry puzzle.[7] Observations revealed that the group that had to resist the cookies during the meeting showed willpower, but their energy to solve the puzzle was depleted, leading them to abandon the puzzle quickly. This outcome indicated that when willpower is overly taxed, it can become exhausted like a muscle, and that we use the same willpower resources across different tasks, regardless of their nature.

Sitting through a boring meeting all day, trying to focus on speakers, coping with heavy traffic, fulfilling the demands of a demanding boss, managing or hiding your emotions, feeling uncomfortable in the workplace, resisting chocolate placed right under your nose, listening to a noisy neighbor all day, making multiple decisions throughout the day, etc., all consume the same reserve. At this point, the best suggestion is to realize the limits of our willpower and use it healthily; we should avoid multitasking with mentally demanding tasks and make important decisions when we are fresh, calm, and composed.[8]

The willpower muscle theory tells us that willpower can be developed. Scientific studies have proven that meditation and physical exercise strengthen our willpower reserves: Meditation (mindfulness practices) increases the gray matter in the prefrontal cortex, supports the attention network, and particularly enhances focus, which is executive attention. It reduces the effects of stress and enhances the activity of the vagus nerve, promoting relaxation, flexibility, and psychological resilience. Besides reducing stress, physical exercise supports the effective functioning of the forebrain circuits by regulating energy.[9]

Jules Payot suggests that “deep thinking” plays an effective role in strengthening willpower.[10] He says that although a person is surrounded by earthly elements, they can retreat into their “inner cave,” a deep solitude within themselves. The “inner cave” refers to creating a space for ourselves to delve deeper away from trivial mental distractions and connect with our creative potential. The goal of deep thinking is not to fill the mind with information but to polish it with creative energy, or as Montaigne puts it, “not to fill the mind but to shape it.” Deep thinking allows a person to deeply understand their own existence, shielding us from a flood of indecisive thoughts, feelings, and passions. It is essential for regaining our freedom.

Payot argues that looking at something from a general perspective is the work of lazy minds, while those who think deeply absorb their thoughts bit by bit, unlike others, and transform them into something sweet like honey. He points out that those who cannot dive deep into a single topic, who are constantly distracted by various subjects and end up lost among piles of irrelevant information, actually exhibit a form of willpower weakness that is hard to notice. Externally, they may seem energetic about everything, but they fail to get to the core of any idea; they create heaps of information, but since they lack the creativity filled with necessary details, it becomes a burden.

Creativity here means thinking about the essence of an idea with a holistic approach and then bringing it to light. Focusing on trivial details only makes it harder to reach the truth. Every one of us, as humans, is filled with desires for things we want to do or habits we wish to let go of. Sometimes we passionately and excitedly pursue these intentions, but after a while, when faced with difficulties, we lose motivation and may even throw in the towel. In other words, our willpower runs out, and our attempts end in failure. However, as we’ve mentioned before, willpower can be developed through training. Important steps that can contribute to the training of willpower can be summarized as follows:

1. Purpose (the meaning given to life) is very valuable. If an event isn’t valuable enough for us, we won’t show willpower.
2. Deep thinking (contemplation) should go hand in hand with action.
3. We must always keep the motivation and intention to do/not to do alive—this requires determination. We should clearly articulate our intention, both verbally and in writing.
4. As dopamine increases, the motivation to take action also rises; at this point, emotions act as a locomotive, bringing life to our goals and intentions.
5. Using mental imagery and visualizing our future selves keeps our motivation alive.
6. The affirmation of being on the path comes from achieving a habit of continuous action. It’s important to maintain consistency and “not break the chain of actions.” Even the smallest step, called an “atomic habit,” is valuable.
7. Recognizing the limits of willpower and focusing on one goal at a time increases efficiency; multitasking creates distractions. It’s important to notice situations where willpower may be challenged, where there is a risk of failing, and to learn to manage willpower by avoiding unnecessary details. Willpower management involves recognizing a strong emotion or impulse and finding a way to cope with it without losing control, making willpower control unnecessary with the right precautions.
8. Recognizing distractions is valuable. The environment is an invisible hand that shapes behaviors; the most significant distractions can often come from friends and family.
9. Proper nutrition, good sleep, mindfulness practices, and physical exercise are essential. (Especially hunger and lack of sleep are the most common causes of willpower weakness.)

“Will is the character in action.” William MCDOUGAL

Another ancient discussion regarding will pertains to the existence of “free will.” Free will is the power of a person to be the ultimate creator and sustainer of their own destiny and goals.[11] The problem of human freedom encompasses a variety of dimensions that cannot be addressed solely within the limits of theological discourse, and each scientific field it touches contains its own sophisticated debates on the subject.[12]

From a neuroscientific perspective, the problem of human liberty relates to the philosophy of mind[13]. It questions the presence of a mechanism within the mind that makes free decisions. If such a decision-making mechanism exists, can it be reconciled with the deterministic nature of the universe (determinism: the principle that if all variables in the universe at a given moment are known, the state of the universe at the next moment can be predicted without error, leaving no room for chance)?

In terms of free will debates, no scientific study has had as much impact as those by neuroscientist Benjamin Libet.[14] In 1983, Libet conducted an experiment aimed at measuring the timing of mental decisions related to actions. He measured the brain waves (EEG) at the moment participants decided to lift their fingers and the muscular movements (EMG) at the moment of action. The findings showed that electrical activity could be detected in the decision centers of the brain up to 350 milliseconds before a person said, “I’ve decided.” The brain was acting before the self-awareness of the action. To be sure of this, Libet and subsequent researchers repeated the experiment multiple times; although the data varied, the fundamental conclusion remained the same. This conclusion indicated that what we call our “preferences” are actually influenced by both external factors (education, environment, socio-economic status, etc.) and internal factors (genes, temperament, life experiences, etc.).

While free will cannot be detected at the macro level of science, different perspectives have begun to emerge at the micro level thanks to recent physical studies. Advances in quantum physics in recent years have led us to question the deterministic view of the universe, which states that everything is tied to a preceding process and is predetermined. Bell’s Theorem and the physical experiments developed from it have shown that the universe is probabilistic on a quantum scale, revealing that observations pointing to this probabilistic nature of the universe were inconsistent with “local hidden variable” theories attempting to explain them with deterministic methods. Some of the researchers contributing to these developments, Alain Aspect, John Clauser, and Anton Zeilinger, were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2022.[15]

“To truly know oneself is to have achieved liberation. To be liberated means to free oneself from all dependencies and to make one’s behavior a product of their own free will. In other words, it means being able to do what one wants when they want, without feeling any internal or external compulsion to do so.”

At this point, one of the best questions to ask might be: what influences our behaviors, or in other words, who holds control over our will?

In the world we currently live in, we see strong-willed individuals driven by intense emotions, ambition, and competition, dominating our lives. History has repeatedly experienced the heavy burdens brought by such wills, and it continues to do so. The impact of force is limited and partial because it automatically creates opposing forces. It inherently exists in relation to something else; therefore, it is deficient and must be nourished, strengthened, and justified by energy, unlike power, which requires no justification.

“Power does not come from physical capacity, but from an indomitable will.” Mahatma GANDHI

Strength comes from meaning; it is holistic, complete, and doesn’t need anything outside itself. The source of power is the concept that all humans are created equal and that human rights exist inherently and are inalienable. This is also the source of Mahatma Gandhi’s willpower. It speaks to what we call the noble aspect of human nature. When we say “strength,” it refers to the raw force, while “power” refers to something that uplifts, elevates, and ennobles. [16]

“The power you need, is in the noble blood that runs in your veins.” Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

When a person aligns with their true essence and becomes whole, the will that emerges in their actions is simultaneously STRONG, POWERFUL, and MIGHTY. The thing that can transform the strength of will into power is knowledge and love.

The Humanity Manifesto published in 2021 by The Sun of Wisdom Association and The Sun of Humanity Foundation states that humanity is on the cusp of experiencing an extraordinary transformation for the first time in known history. “This is not a change of era; it is the birth of a ‘new understanding of humanity’ that demands deep-rooted changes in understanding, behavior, intention, and mindset, as well as the necessary and forceful departures.”[17]

Here, the will needed for this emerging new understanding of humanity is genuine will. It’s a will that will take ownership of the whole and society and feel responsible for its development; it’s a conscience-driven will. There is a linear relationship between having an internalized conscience and having a strong will.[18] They work together like the two wings of a bird.

True will emerges at the intersection of the mind and the heart. If we can hear the voice of the ‘True Conscience’ from which that will originates, we should know that voice is our own voice. As long as people hear that voice as if it is external, they cannot be thier ‘true self.'[19] Purified Being, HUMAN

As mentioned in the Humanity Manifesto; with the strong demand of the new understanding of humanity, when courage and will are shown to change thoughts and intentions, one must realize that the surrounding structure, environment, system, culture, and social relationships—essentially the world as a whole—will change. This awareness will unlock the doors to infinite possibilities that life has yet to offer.

Fatmagül YILMAZ ÇINAR, 2024

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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