6 ms·

Its because of Dopamine. I think everyone knows this. The same is true for Social media as well.

phyzome 8y ago
Isn't that like saying "because genetics" or "because chemistry" or "because biology"? It doesn't really answer the question that the article is asking.
- amelius 8y ago
  Yeah, and also the brain's dopamine levels are not homogeneous. Your dopamine can be low in one part of the brain and high in another. Also, dopamine receptors can have low/high count in different areas.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- shawn 8y ago
  That's a bit like saying that Newton's gravity law doesn't explain why the planets move. It's true that "because genetics" doesn't tell you why it happens, but it might be the deepest answer possible. We are servants to our genes.
  - trukterious 8y ago
    >We are servants to our genes If so then how do you explain phenomena like suicide and celibacy?
    - shawn 8y ago
      It is commonly assumed that evolution tries to maximize its outcome using a greedy algorithm. In fact it seems to be a random walk across all possibilities, with unviable branches dying out over time. Suicide may also be a second order effect of other factors. For example, suicide usually has a cultural basis: you feel some sort of shame, or maybe you think your future outcomes aren't good culturally. But that means you care about society. Therefore suicide may be an indication that we have evolved to optimize society rather than ourselves. If we didn't care about society, perhaps there would be less suicides, but it would also make humans less dominant.
      - trukterious 8y ago
        >Suicide usually has a cultural basis Yes -- hence copycat suicides. But cultural, not genetic. Ideas, not genes.
        shawn 8y ago
        I would argue that culture is incorporated into our genes. For example, humans show signs of domestication, just like certain animals. But domestication is another name for cultural genetics.
        perl4ever 8y ago
        Wouldn't it be accurate to say apoptosis is incorporated into our genes?
    - perl4ever 8y ago
      If evolution is the changing of statistical distributions of genes within a population, then reproduction isn't the only aspect of life that is germane. That's because your children are just one example of people whose genes correlate with yours. Practically anything you do affects other people in society who have some genes in common and therefore impacts the future distribution of genes. This is why being menopausal, infertile, homosexual, celibate, or whatever does not place you outside of or make you irrelevant to evolution.
- mesarvagya 8y ago
  Well I didn't meant it to be in negative way. Sorry its answering the `how` part of question not `why`, but whatever be the reason of `why`, the final thing that brain finds pleasurable is because of dopamine. For example, lets say a person like classical music but might dislike rap or metal. This is because his brain is accustomed to classical music and the more he listens to it, the more dopamine is released. However, in case of other genres, brain is not accustomed to it and thus the pleasure hormone might not work.
martin-adams 8y ago
It's a curious question. Here we have music, which produces sound waves, which gets received in our ears and through vibrations on the skin. Specific frequencies of that sound wave can cause dopamine. But other frequencies don't. Why the difference? Could it be related to memory, having experienced a happy time in your childhood that music brings you back to. What about sad memories? Could it be related to the memories of movies where you had a strong empathy to the emotion of a story and the music was the soundtrack? And what about music you've never heard before. Is there a mathematical rhythm that creates a pattern in the brain that releases dopamine? This is how I think of the question. I am not experienced in any of these subjects to really know the answer.
Raphmedia 8y ago
That's the answer to "how" not "why".
- jhayward 8y ago
  In science and nature, there is only "how".
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
crazynick4 8y ago
Yes but why does some music elicit dopamine and some does not? If I just play random notes for you, even if I do it with some sense of rhythm, will your body still produce dopamine?
- mesarvagya 8y ago
  The theory of dopamine is that there has to be strong local connections on brain for the activity the person is being kept under. Think of a song that you initially disliked but when you hear the same thing again and again, the neural connections gets stronger. When this happens, brain will release dopamine enabling brain get its reward.
  - crazynick4 8y ago
    I think there is more to it then that. By that argument alone, I should enjoy a song more, the more I listen to it. Then why do we get tired of old music and look for new music?
    - noisem4ker 8y ago
      You probably start to tolerate a song you don't like better the longer you are exposed to it. Of course, at some point boredom kicks in. You find pleasure both in what sounds familiar (thus harmless, cozy) and in what sounds novel (a new experience, an opportunity for gaining knowledge).
Grue3 8y ago
I love The Dopamines! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kI_n3flJDL0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kI_n3flJDL0

Isn't that like saying "because genetics" or "because chemistry" or "because biology"? It doesn't really answer the question that the article is asking.

amelius 8y ago
Yeah, and also the brain's dopamine levels are not homogeneous. Your dopamine can be low in one part of the brain and high in another. Also, dopamine receptors can have low/high count in different areas.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
shawn 8y ago
That's a bit like saying that Newton's gravity law doesn't explain why the planets move. It's true that "because genetics" doesn't tell you why it happens, but it might be the deepest answer possible. We are servants to our genes.
- trukterious 8y ago
  >We are servants to our genes If so then how do you explain phenomena like suicide and celibacy?
  - shawn 8y ago
    It is commonly assumed that evolution tries to maximize its outcome using a greedy algorithm. In fact it seems to be a random walk across all possibilities, with unviable branches dying out over time. Suicide may also be a second order effect of other factors. For example, suicide usually has a cultural basis: you feel some sort of shame, or maybe you think your future outcomes aren't good culturally. But that means you care about society. Therefore suicide may be an indication that we have evolved to optimize society rather than ourselves. If we didn't care about society, perhaps there would be less suicides, but it would also make humans less dominant.
    - trukterious 8y ago
      >Suicide usually has a cultural basis Yes -- hence copycat suicides. But cultural, not genetic. Ideas, not genes.
      - shawn 8y ago
        I would argue that culture is incorporated into our genes. For example, humans show signs of domestication, just like certain animals. But domestication is another name for cultural genetics.
        perl4ever 8y ago
        Wouldn't it be accurate to say apoptosis is incorporated into our genes?
  - perl4ever 8y ago
    If evolution is the changing of statistical distributions of genes within a population, then reproduction isn't the only aspect of life that is germane. That's because your children are just one example of people whose genes correlate with yours. Practically anything you do affects other people in society who have some genes in common and therefore impacts the future distribution of genes. This is why being menopausal, infertile, homosexual, celibate, or whatever does not place you outside of or make you irrelevant to evolution.
mesarvagya 8y ago
Well I didn't meant it to be in negative way. Sorry its answering the `how` part of question not `why`, but whatever be the reason of `why`, the final thing that brain finds pleasurable is because of dopamine. For example, lets say a person like classical music but might dislike rap or metal. This is because his brain is accustomed to classical music and the more he listens to it, the more dopamine is released. However, in case of other genres, brain is not accustomed to it and thus the pleasure hormone might not work.

martin-adams 8y ago

It's a curious question. Here we have music, which produces sound waves, which gets received in our ears and through vibrations on the skin. Specific frequencies of that sound wave can cause dopamine. But other frequencies don't. Why the difference? Could it be related to memory, having experienced a happy time in your childhood that music brings you back to. What about sad memories? Could it be related to the memories of movies where you had a strong empathy to the emotion of a story and the music was the soundtrack? And what about music you've never heard before. Is there a mathematical rhythm that creates a pattern in the brain that releases dopamine? This is how I think of the question. I am not experienced in any of these subjects to really know the answer.

Raphmedia 8y ago

That's the answer to "how" not "why".

jhayward 8y ago
In science and nature, there is only "how".
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]

crazynick4 8y ago

Yes but why does some music elicit dopamine and some does not? If I just play random notes for you, even if I do it with some sense of rhythm, will your body still produce dopamine?

mesarvagya 8y ago
The theory of dopamine is that there has to be strong local connections on brain for the activity the person is being kept under. Think of a song that you initially disliked but when you hear the same thing again and again, the neural connections gets stronger. When this happens, brain will release dopamine enabling brain get its reward.
- crazynick4 8y ago
  I think there is more to it then that. By that argument alone, I should enjoy a song more, the more I listen to it. Then why do we get tired of old music and look for new music?
  - noisem4ker 8y ago
    You probably start to tolerate a song you don't like better the longer you are exposed to it. Of course, at some point boredom kicks in. You find pleasure both in what sounds familiar (thus harmless, cozy) and in what sounds novel (a new experience, an opportunity for gaining knowledge).

Grue3 8y ago

I love The Dopamines! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kI_n3flJDL0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kI_n3flJDL0