Modern Life is Existentially Boring – Out of Control Dopamine
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I first came across Dr. Anna Lembke while researching phone addiction. I’ve since listened to her audiobook and various interviews. This is a refined version of the notes taken while listening to her interview on a plane in the pitch dark.
Life is meant to be a struggle. Bored humans seek unnecessary drama—that rise and fall of dopamine levels. In our modern lives, we no longer fight to keep our villages safe or hunt and flee from wild animals. Instead, we turn on machines to regulate temperature so we don’t get sick and die too young. Easy access to meeting our basic survival needs leave us craving man-made stimulation.
What is Dopamine?
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that drives motivation, reward, and learning. Rather than directly causing pleasure, dopamine creates motivation by releasing in anticipation of a reward, pushing us to pursue goals or actions.
Misconceptions About Dopamine
Dopamine ≠ Pleasure: Many assume dopamine is all about pleasure, but it’s more about motivation—the drive to seek rewards rather than the pleasure itself. Example: The anticipation of eating ice cream is more exciting than having the ice cream itself.
More Dopamine ≠ More Happiness: Chronic overstimulation leads to dopamine desensitisation, leaving us less motivated and increasingly apathetic. Example : We think that ice cream is the one that makes happy, but it’s really the seeking out of the ice cream that excites us. We think it’s the entertaining video that drives us, but it is actually the successful seeking of the video that drives us to keep scrolling for the next entertaining video.
Struggle is the Reward. Seeking is the Reward.
This is against what we understand. Who the hell would find the struggle rewarding? Think about the friend who constantly talks about how difficult a holiday trip was to relive the feeling of the struggles.
Modern society places intense emphasis on finding passion or purpose, often believing it leads to lasting happiness. However, this mindset can be misleading. The satisfaction is not from achieving the goal alone, — but the process in reaching the goal.
Dopamine Makes Us Lie to Ourselves
Dopamine levels rise when we imagine achieving something desirable, driving us to act. Don’t trap yourself in this imagination stage. We constantly seek for the next exciting video to watch to retrieve back the high when we finally found that one entertaining video after scrolling past hundreds.
Cheat Dopamine to Achieve Hard Goals
Dopamine enjoys the chase, so view the struggle itself as part of the reward, not just the end result. This way, the journey becomes as satisfying as the destination.
Dr. Anna Lembke discusses the concept of maintaining equilibrium between pleasure and pain in her book Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence. She explains that our brain's reward system seeks a balance; excessive indulgence in pleasurable activities can lead to a decrease in sensitivity to pleasure, requiring more stimulation to achieve the same effect. Conversely, embracing discomfort or delaying gratification can help reset this balance, making everyday pleasures more satisfying. This balance is crucial for preventing overindulgence and fostering resilience.
