some researchers who believe that everything we do

is driven by a desire to achieve something.

And, in fact, we've had some controversy in the literature,

some back and forth in the science

about how likely it is

that people ever respond without a goal

How do habits and goals actually interact?

and what parts are involved in getting someone

to get up in the morning and go running

even when it's dark and miserable

and they don't feel like it

Is that a habit, a goal, willpower?

How do all of those things interact?

It's probably a little bit of both, all of those things,

but it's definitely habit.

People act on habits,

but still interpret their behavior

as if it was goal-directed, as if it was designed

to achieve some outcome that occurred

after the habit happened.

A lot of researchers became convinced

that habits aren't important.

They don't explain anything that's useful

really about human experience

but just recognize that if you are trying

to change a behavior that involves repetition,

there's gonna be other mechanisms involved.

The best example of that was with anti-smoking campaigns

And this was one time in which the US government

took effective steps

to help us control unwanted behavior.

They taxed cigarettes. They banned smoking in public places.

They removed cues,

so you can't find cigarettes on a store shelf anymore.

You have to go ask somebody.

By changing cues and adding friction,

we cut smoking in this country from 50%

to where it is now, 15%,

by addressing the things that change habits.

So we're able to show in research

that goals aren't necessary to drive behavior,

that they can be confabulated after.

These research findings suggest

that there is a separation between these two constructs,

but our experience suggests that they're the same.

This lure of phenomenology and our belief in the powers

of introspection, I think are closely tied.

Both of which contribute to this misunderstanding

that habits are not important in human behavior.

Habits are always there.

They're always available,

but every once in a while

we intervene and do something more thoughtfully.

So there's all kinds of different mental models

integrating these two systems,

and I think that's going to be

one of the most interesting questions

for the next decade is figuring out how they interact.