We're now at the heart of a central human paradox: that the better the will is at getting rewards, the less reward it will finally obtain. The paradox arises because the will only works – given its nature as a bargaining situation, we could say “only forms” – in tasks that have regular, clear-cut steps. This clarity fosters anticipation, which increasingly wastes available appetite through premature satiation and which the will is powerless to prevent in any direct way. Although this mechanism provokes solutions that must disappoint anyone seeking a recipe for rationality, it removes the apparent absurdity from three of the most basic human activities, which I'll now discuss: the construction of beliefs, empathy with other people, and motivated indirection in approaching goals.

THE CONSTRUCTION OF FACT PUZZLE

It's now common knowledge that people's beliefs about the world around them are heavily influenced by their own tacit choices, both “innocent” assumptions and wishful thinking. We have to decide so much about attending to or ignoring information that some “social constructivists” have put fact and fiction on a par, under the name “text.” To a great extent, belief does seem to be a goal-directed activity.