I was wondering. You get a lot of fighters with "Warrior Spirit", who push themselves to their physical limitations. I was wondering if it's possible to measure this. For instance, a Mother who works three jobs to raise her two kids, and never complains about the workload. Can you say she has more or less strength of Will than a professional athlete, or a Soldier, fighting for his/her Country? I have too much free time.
I would say it would be measured in four way's. Quality, quantity, duration, and intensity. The higher quality duration the more it applies in diffrent ways. Like for instance, some people have a lot of willpower when it comes to running but cant stand up to other people. There willpower is only applies the one way. Quantity is how much they have. Duration is how long can you make the willpower last for. Intensity is how powerful the Will is while it lasts and is in affect.
I would say the mother has less. Because a good mother "has" to take care of her kids, and pay for her good life. Don't get me wrong I'm not saying a single mother with multiple jobs isn't a hard worker and has a lot of spirit. But it's something they have to do to take care of their children, an athlete doesn't "have" to push themselves so hard, they want to be the best and train to be the best. So I think it is two different things, also a soldier in a battle I think it comes down to a lot of bravery and fight and flight. I mean if they don't try their best and push themselves there's a very high possibility that they will get killed.
Interesting comeback dude, thanks for that! I also happen to know a lot of Single Mums who would disagree with you
The real question is - what's the point of measuring it? It's either something you choose to have or something you choose not to have. Motivations vary, so it really can't be measured that say Joe Green Beret has more "warrior spirit" than Joe MMA Fighter, or that Joe's Mom has more "warrior spirit" than Joe Ultramarathoner.
They can disagree all they like, they have kids they should take care of them. Fact of the matter is there are millions of single hard working mothers out there who don't complain. I'm not saying they don't deserve credit they do, but I also think they should do everything possible to look after their kids. Now compare that with elite athletes or someone who puts themselves through hell just to try and be the very best at something, that's different.
In my opinion, this "warrior spirit" you speak of is really the expression of an individuals will. So in other words, warrior spirit = will. I believe that you can measure it, but you have to look at certain tasks. Like, you can measure someones will in different situations: say in a situation where a pain is applied to them, and they do their best to not get out of the pain though they can instantly (like, touching something electric). Basically you measure it at a certain volt for a certain amount of time, and then you can measure your will in minutes. So the thing is however... a big buff guy might have a stronger will then say, a fat man, just because there is a mind body connection. When the buff guy touches the painful thing his body may be taking in less of a pain then when the fat man touches it. So maybe if both of the people were given the same amount of pain then you could get a more accurate reading. However, even then, when you think positive thoughts you have a stronger will. In being hypnotised you have a stronger will. If you have a better body then you may be able to more naturally express the will. So I don't think that just a simple test actually can determine someones will. Not sure, but this is more thoughts to chew on.
you can measure mental toughness. reading on it now. gimme a week till i finish my essay and ill post more. bloody Uni, getting in the way of my MAP posts
You mean those elite athletes who have people pay for them through sponsorship and contributions while they work out? They work hard, but they are paid - and paid well - to do so so Anyone can push themselves for somethng they are good at and they enjoy - it is how hard you push when you have to do something that you are NOT good at and do not enjoy - most "elite athletes" stay in their own disciplines for good reason
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHA they are not well paid. very few are well paid. the rest get minimal government funding unless they are constantly training. your funding can get pulled for any little reason e.g. something you did in your social life. these athletes are usually only 16-18 when they start to recieve funding, the less popular their sport the less funding, some recieve less than what they would be making on minimum wage. they cant do anything thats not approved by their coaches. they have to eat, drink, sleep, socialise with and EVEN THINK exactly what their coaches tell them in hopes of success. they get treated like children and have little time for much else. they stay within their fields because many dont have the opportunies to expand their bases into other field because they were always training and never got to do anything else. an elite athletes life is very monotonous and actually pretty sad.
I doubt that the mother of three could care less to be recognized for her "warrior spirit." As for whether she has to do it, I think that's a flawed point. Obviously, any parent should take care of their kids. But that's not a fixed point. There's no concrete definition of succeeding at that. The mother doesn't, for instance, have to make it to all her kid's baseball games. But she might well endeavour to do that. And it's a lot less self-indulgent than most "warriors" I know.
I seem to recall reading a summary of some papers that said that essentially humans only have a finite amount of willpower. While you can increase your will power through training, everyone has a limit. This is apparently a key factor in decision fatigue. People who have to make important decisions on a regular basis can sometimes struggle at the end of the day to make decisions that aren't really important. I know I can get stuck in front of the cold deserts fridge at the supermarket for some time.
Tenacity? Working eight hour shifts in a job you dislike so you have enough money to put bread on the table. As Hannibal says,its easy to find tenacity when you are doing something you enjoy.I used to have the tenacity to run a hundred miles every week but I doubt if I could apply the same mindset to putting tyres on cars all day long or packing meat in some grotty factory.
So that deals wit the Amateurs - but Basketball, Baseball, NFL, Boxing, Nascar, Hockey, F-1 and countless other sports get paid a mint. You need to expand your definition of "athlete"
