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It's also weird, because I believed that a good live is filled with doing things you enjoy. But then they used psychology to make us addicted to scrolling feed

It's also weird, because I believed that a good live is filled with doing things you enjoy. But then they used psychology to make us addicted to scrolling feeds.

steve_adams_86 5y ago
The thing about those addictive behaviours is (for me), like most addictions, you have a tenuous association with enjoyment and the behaviour but mostly it leaves you very dissatisfied. Scrolling through feeds or watching videos actually causes me to become pretty sad, but sometimes I find myself feeling quite a compulsion to do it. It's usually when I'm stressed out or anxious, and the behaviour aligns perfectly with escapism. So there's very little enjoying involved. I think it's important to consider what enjoyable means, and how we frame it. Instant gratification is only a small sliver of what could be considered enjoyable, in the scheme of things.
- schoen 5y ago
  > like most addictions, you have a tenuous association with enjoyment and the behaviour but mostly it leaves you very dissatisfied There's a whole bunch of research and writing lately about "wanting versus liking", describing these two emotions related to experiences and behaviors as distinct. When people encounter that distinction, most of us can think of things that we like much more than we want, or that we want much more than we like.
  - steve_adams_86 5y ago
    I listened to an interesting podcast the other day by Andrew Huberman in which he talks about dopamine being a motivating chemical (motivates you to do whatever triggered it again) rather than a pleasure chemical, which it’s often thought to be. It’s apparently very much a want over a like situation, which seems to explain the potential lack of enjoyment. I’m not a neuroscientist so I’ll butcher this if I say more, but in terms of want vs like I found it really fascinating.

It's also weird, because I believed that a good live is filled with doing things you enjoy. But then they used psychology to make us addicted to scrolling feeds.

steve_adams_86 5y ago

The thing about those addictive behaviours is (for me), like most addictions, you have a tenuous association with enjoyment and the behaviour but mostly it leaves you very dissatisfied. Scrolling through feeds or watching videos actually causes me to become pretty sad, but sometimes I find myself feeling quite a compulsion to do it. It's usually when I'm stressed out or anxious, and the behaviour aligns perfectly with escapism. So there's very little enjoying involved. I think it's important to consider what enjoyable means, and how we frame it. Instant gratification is only a small sliver of what could be considered enjoyable, in the scheme of things.

schoen 5y ago
> like most addictions, you have a tenuous association with enjoyment and the behaviour but mostly it leaves you very dissatisfied There's a whole bunch of research and writing lately about "wanting versus liking", describing these two emotions related to experiences and behaviors as distinct. When people encounter that distinction, most of us can think of things that we like much more than we want, or that we want much more than we like.
- steve_adams_86 5y ago
  I listened to an interesting podcast the other day by Andrew Huberman in which he talks about dopamine being a motivating chemical (motivates you to do whatever triggered it again) rather than a pleasure chemical, which it’s often thought to be. It’s apparently very much a want over a like situation, which seems to explain the potential lack of enjoyment. I’m not a neuroscientist so I’ll butcher this if I say more, but in terms of want vs like I found it really fascinating.