Easy and Hard Rationalizing

Human nature, even the most obvious parts, still fascinates me.

For example, we can easily rationalize (to ourselves) a way out of doing things we have an obligation to do. "I can't do my cardio today-- I'm too busy catching up on old episodes of Battlestar Galatica." If we were really serious about these obligations, we'd find a way to make them happen.

Conversely, we can easily rationalize away reasons for not doing something that we really want to do-- even if they aren't good for us. "I shouldn't have that Big Mac because of my beef allergy--but you know, there's probably not that much real beef in there, so I'm sure I'll be okay."

I know I'm not stating anything earth shatteringly new here-- it's a phenomenon we're all quite familiar with, from self-observation or observing the behaviours of those around us. But what if we could figure out the underlying mechanism behind that phenomenon and "hack" it somehow, so that our psychological system reversed the perception of those two scenarios?

It's not that far out of a concept actually. Ever hear of sublimation-- the redirection of energies normally used to pursue biological reproduction into other endeavors, such as the arts (painting, writing, etc.)? Granted, it's not exactly the same as what I'm proposing, but it's pretty close-- harness the impulse for gratification and turn it into the fuel to carry out an arduous task or tedious duty.