[simonask]

I agree with your comment, except that framing it as "lack of willpower" is unfortunate, because it implies that you should somehow be able to ignore these signals - if only you had enough "willpower". It seems to require an untenable amount of willpower to sustain a resistance to these signals, so perhaps it isn't realistic.

[rcxdude]

I think the main unhelpful thing is the implication that a lack of willpower is some kind of moral failing that means you deserve the results.

(The other fiction which causes problems is the idea that the amount of willpower required is the same for everyone)

[rangestransform]

The idea of individual locus of control is how western society has made so much progress. The idea of determinism that a certain subset of the "political left" has embraced is detrimental to the functioning of society, no matter how true it actually is. When people are not invested in their outcomes through a society-wide belief in individual control, we end up with situations like collective farming. Taken to its extreme, the idea of determinism results in "from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs", equal outcomes for disparate effort and ability.