> Who are these legions of people? The few articles I have been able to find about it [2][3] indicate that it's Silicon Valley "trying things out" as usual, an

> Who are these legions of people? The few articles I have been able to find about it [2][3] indicate that it's Silicon Valley "trying things out" as usual, and assorted media loudly claiming that it doesn't work. It's not legions of people, but "dopamine fasting" was (briefly) popular in certain social media and tech circles. It started out as a "put down your phone and go outside" kind of trend with a pseudoscientific tie-in to dopamine (or at least the popular misconceptions about dopamine). Aside from egregiously abusing neuroscience terms, it was actually a decent idea to encourage people to take a break from the easy rewards like social media, video games, and TV. Probably feels like a revelation to people who were chronically online and forgot that there was an alternative way to live. But then it spiraled into a fad where social media personalities tried to one-up each other or rush to add their own pseudoscientific twists in an attempt to have something new and unique to share. And it evolved into this silly idea that you shouldn't do anything enjoyable during your off time, or even that you had to specifically become uncomfortable or miserable. Outside of those circles, everyone else is just rolling their eyes. But get caught in one of these bubbles and you'll hear a lot of one-upmanship about dopamine fasting and humble brags about not doing certain things. At least until it becomes uncool again, at which point everyone will pretend it never happened. This article probably sounds like nonsense if you haven't been in one of these circles, but it's actually a great resource to give to someone before they go down the "dopamine fasting" rabbit hole. Debunk early and save them the trouble. Moderation is good. Putting down your phone and going outside is good. Having self-discipline is good. But turning it into a status-signaling social media game and applying a pseudoscientific name is a good way to completely miss the point. Just go outside and enjoy yourself.