[logicchains]

While willpower can be exhausted, it's also possible to increase willpower reserves via such things as exercise and meditation[1].

Personally, I think promoting education and awareness (and providing training) to people wishing to improve their willpower would be preferable to further empowering the immense coercive apparatus of the state to interfere in the minute details of our lives.

People lacking willpower will always find ways to self-sabotage, so helping them increase their willpower would be far more efficient than trying to ban every single thing that their poor willpower could render harmful to them.

1. http://scopeblog.stanford.edu/2011/12/29/a-conversation-abou...

[siglesias]

It's kind of a catch-22, isn't it? Are folks on the lower third of the willpower bell curve (those who need it the most) going to be willing to endure extensive mindfulness training? Especially with all those distractions sitting in their pockets?

[logicchains]

Well it couldn't hurt to try, to at least make it easily accessible to them. The success of Alcoholics Anonymous is a testament to people's willingness to seek help where its available.

Considering how willpower is a predictor for success in many facets of life, techniques (scientifically verified ones, not the mumbo-jumbo ones) that improve willpower and concentration would seem like perfect candidates for addition to school curricula. Meditation is generally quite a subjectively pleasant experience, so if people could be taught to do it even once they might decide to keep it up in future purely for the sensation it brings them.