This is a Lexicon entry: the mechanism, when it shows up, and the countermeasure. The full correction, with real-world cases and the audit prompt, hasn't been written yet.
Definition
A choice made in advance to restrict future options - betting money on achieving a goal, giving a friend permission to donate to a hated cause if you fail or using app blockers to prevent phone use after 10pm. The Ulysses Contract is the archetypal commitment device: Ulysses had himself tied to the mast so that his future self, enchanted by the Sirens, could not give the order to steer toward them. Commitment devices work by making defection costly or impossible, removing the need for willpower in the moment.
When it shows up
Any situation where your future self is likely to make a different choice than your current self wants: dieting, saving, studying, quitting.
Failure mode
Your present self commits to a goal your future self will want to renege on. Without a device, the future self will win because they control the moment of decision.
Countermeasure
Lock in the commitment now: automatic transfers, accountability partners, pre-ordered food, app blockers. The device must be costly or impossible to reverse in the moment of temptation.
Related traps
Also connected in the map3 more, locked
Credit & first seen
DiscoveredDuhigg, C. (2012). The Power of Habit. Random House. James, W. (1890). Principles of Psychology. Holt source ↗
Also revealed
Entry #533 of 631 in The Lexicon · see the full Lexicon