Ulysses's pact / contract !

In a few days its Christopher Nolan's Odyssey premiere, so to get in the mood i bring to you this blog about the Ulysses (latin name for Odysseus) pact. Definition: Ulysses pact is a freely made decision taked on the present, to oblige oneself to an action or decision in the future, usually by means of a structured system of external constraints or incentives. Background: In the events of Homer's Odyssey, before sailing from Circe's island, she advice Odysseus that in the route will be sirens, the celestial and beautiful singing of the sirens reveals wisdom and knowledge of the future yet a dangerous enchantment that make sailors hallucinate and sink their ships (and also in some version the sirens also devours them, anyway the place is full of bones and skulls). Odysseus ordered his crew to their ears with wax so they wouldnt hear the singing. Here is the important part, Odysseus didnt plugged his ears but decided to bound himself, instructed his men to tie him tightly to the ship's mast and explicitly commanded them not to untie him, no matter how much he begged or ordered them to do so. Cleverly, Odysseus made a self-constraint decision in a self-aware present anticipating that he not will neither physically and mentally stable or strong to resist the sirens singing, succeding at earing the enchanting melody and surviving. Ulysses Pact in daily life: Metaphorically, tie up yourself to a mast, will allow you to not being able to fall into the enchantment of the sirens, being the singing of them a metaphor of any temptation, disctraction or mislead to a particular goal or task you want to achieve. A method that involves a "sacrifice", avoiding or refusing instant gratification in the short term, to get better results and gratifications in the long term. Historic Example: French author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician Victor Hugo (famous for Les Misérables and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame) had a good wealth life, and a lot of friends that constantly partying and drink, Victor Hugo to avoid those temptations and finish his writtings and works, he locked up in his work room completely naked, he gaved all his clothes to his butler and instructed to only gave him clothes after 4 hours passed. So with this method Victor Hugo ensured 4 hours to focus on his work without procastination and temptations, otherwise he will be arrested for being naked on public... i guess. Others uses: Similar to the more psychology/behaviour use i wrote, there are uses in self-finances, also in policy and technology contexts. Were the Ulysses pact concept is used in a solid legal term is in medicine in the context of a living will/medical directive in which a person specifies what actions should be taken for their health if they are no longer able to make decisions for themselves because of illness or incapacity. On a similar way is invoked on psychiatric context. Mythology/literature discussion: If you wonder why Odysseus exposed himself to the deadly singing of the sirens? well, for sheer curiosity! A greek hero of insatiable intellectual curiosity, thats why he was Athena's favourite. Thats the end, see you in the next blog. So remember, tie yourself to the mast!