Bondage defined: seeing the better, following the worse
Formal Statement
Human infirmity in moderating and checking the emotions is called bondage; for when a man is a prey to his emotions, he is not his own master, but lies at the mercy of fortune — so much so that he is often compelled, while seeing that which is better for him, to follow that which is worse.
In Plain Language
This is the Preface to Part IV, and it reads like Spinoza glanced at every New Year's resolution you have ever broken. You know you should exercise, study, be patient — and yet you scroll, procrastinate, snap at people. The ancient formula for this is akrasia, weakness of will. But Spinoza has just denied that will is a separate faculty. So what is really happening? You are being determined by whichever affect is currently strongest, and the "better" you see is a weaker idea that gets overpowered by a more vivid, present one.
Why This Follows
Step 11 (df-11) distinguished universal determinism from specifically human bondage. This step gives bondage its precise definition from the text. The combination of inadequate ideas and powerful passive affects means we are often moved by what is nearest and loudest rather than by what we know to be best.
Bondage is the condition of seeing the better yet being moved by the worse.
Connected Concepts
Spinoza says you follow the worse not because your will is weak, but because a stronger affect overpowers a weaker idea. Does this redescription change how you might address the problem?