Self-control does not exist

[Anchorman]

Self-control is a sophist term, and under it, the more accurate meanings are:

Mind-conditioning, habit and addiction.

If someone hits their pet dog every time it does something that they do not want it to do, that dog will soon develop "self-control", not in the sense that the dog has learned anything, or is putting fourth a reasoned effort to stop itself. Instead, its mind has become conditioned via fear-trauma/abuse, so that it cannot fully want to act in a certain way anymore.

Essentially, one neurological pattern over-ranks another, and a mannerism is formed. This is not to say they are "controlling themself". More accurate it would be, if a thumb was pressed against a lump of clay, and afterwards the imprint remained. This is not the clay controlling its own shape, but instead, this is the end result of imprinting and conditioning.

[Biased]

We have the ability to direct our own mental programming. We can consciously choose to condition ourselves, to condition our unconscious. "We learn to forget." -Jiddu Krishnamurti

[Mr. Tuxedo]

I think that this arguement as stated cannot be proven for certain.

I realize that this doesn't disprove your point, but I'm not sure if I've ever heard of training a dog being referred to as "self-control". I wouldn't consider the training of a dog and the behavior of humans to be in the same category.

[Blexrude]

eg. A) a person is punished whenever s/he does a certain action, concept known as negative reinforcement, so that person will subconsciously associate that action with pain. this is considered programming not choice.

eg. B) a person is rewarded when they do an action the way you want it yo be done, known as positive reinforcement, where the person associates the action with the pleasant sensations of the reward, also a form of programing.

eg. C) a person looks back on the things he has learned throughout his life and decides he will change something, he finds the cause of a behavior, positive or negative, and analyzes the root of that cause, once he can understand that root he then determines whether he still wants that basic behavior or not. thus removing the programing and making a choice, concept known as psychoanalysis and psychotherapy.

eg.D) a person encounters a new instance and rather than being told what to do watches the situation and uses logic to derrive a suitable course of action, if successful the person will reinact that course of action so long as it remains effective. concept known as reasoning.