Addiction and Willpower

“Addiction has nothing to do with willpower.”

Origin: White Out, Page 173 – Michael W. Clune

(Submitted by Michael Beloved)

This statement was made by a heroin addict. One might think that he is ignorant and cannot know any of the truths of human behavior. And yet, perhaps he gave a profound truth of the pattern which is habit.

Willpower would like to think that it has something to do with addiction because willpower is all about what Western people term as their self-enemy, ego. Willpower does play a part, and a very prominent part, but not in every activity, not in every event. The miracle of will power is not its self but its supports. Imagine a nation of 10 billion people, say, and it is ruled by one man, by a Stalin or Hitler. We may compare that dictator to willpower and the masses under him to the rest of the psyche.

So long as those masses are inclined for whatever reason to adhere to the wishes of that ruler, then he has unimaginable power but if they decide not to serve him, then what would he be?

So willpower’s magic is not its self. It is its supports.

For the purpose of addiction, we do not regard will power as being anything, except that initially, it may order the introduction of a habit without realizing that by doing so, it will disempower itself.

The very first act may be the willpower’s and that is like if a dictator gets a hair brain idea that by giving the masses the right to vote for anyone they desire, they will appreciate him and re-elect him over and over for life.

Really?

Is that smart?

That is dumb.

Willpower is the dumbest of the psychic muscles which one can utilize. It has no hindsight, no foresight, nothing. It only has pride of command. Its total information is now – which is the least knowledge.

Willpower gives a command, a whimsical command. It does not have an analytical perspective. It is just an ordering system like a command line which shouts orders. That itself shows that it is inadequate.

How does it know what the influence will be as a result of the command? Is it in the essence of the forces which will execute the command? Will these forces take over and abolish the will power, leaving it as a shriveled up powerless slave of the habit which it first introduced for the heck of it?