Episode 203: Why bad habits persist

At their core, all vices are amnestic disorders. The reason they persist is that -- at the moment of decision -- people forget the pain and suffering that have consistently attended the behavior in the past and focus exclusively on the short-term pleasure. In the words of Sigmund Freud: ”we can either remember, or we can repeat.” The way out of this trap requires mindfulness, which is how we generally talk about the original Pali word that can also be translated as ”remembering.” I’ll discuss more in this episode.

#mindfulness #habits #selfimprovement