Why You Can’t “Just Do It”: The Intention-Action Gap with Dr. Tom Froese #90

Mar 27

Have you ever wondered about the relationship between your brain and your mind? How does that wrinkled, gel-like matter in our head dictate our understanding of ourselves and the world?

On today’s episode of Doorknob Comments, Grant and Fara are joined by Dr. Tom Froese, a cognitive scientist at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) who researches the origin and nature of the human mind by integrating philosophy of mind, computational modeling, and human subjects research.

The conversation centers on what Froese calls the intention-action gap: the stubborn fact that knowing what we want to do and actually doing it are never the same thing. Why can't we simply force our bodies to comply with our intentions? And what does this mean for how long real change actually takes?

Together, they explore frustration tolerance, boredom, and the role of friction in psychological development, landing on a key therapeutic insight: sitting with uncertainty rather than demanding immediate resolution.

We hope you enjoy!