Eyal: Evidence disproves ego depletion unless people believe willpower is limited
Nir Eyal · How To Stay Focused, Beat Distraction, and Get Things Done | Nir Eyal · Mar 19, 2026 · at 57:56
Author Nir Eyal discusses psychological replication studies on willpower and ego depletion with Codie Sanchez.
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“Well, it turns out it's not true. That when we try and replicate those studies, and this happens in the social science, this is how science works. Science doesn't say anything. Science is the process of doing repeated experiments and seeing if they replicate, and then we can draw conclusions based on evidence. But the evidence doesn't show that ego depletion exists. You do not run out of willpower like you run out of charge on your phone, unless there's one group of people who really do run out of willpower. Those group of people are only people who believe that willpower is a limited resource.”
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