Addiction, Faith, and the Limits of Willpower (with Meghan O'Gieblyn)

Author Meghan O'Gieblyn discusses her memoir Will and Attention with Russ Roberts, exploring why willpower alone often fails in the face of addiction and deeply ingrained behaviors. She draws on the ideas of Simone Weil, William James, and Iris Murdoch to argue that the will is powerless over our deepest desires, and that real change comes through redirecting attention rather than sheer effort. The conversation touches on how we rationalize destructive choices and why the small, barely noticed choices between our conscious decisions ultimately shape the course of our lives.