So... they reinvented Shabbat?
Dopamine Fasting
101–110 of 137 posts
Re: Dopamine Fasting
#102Earlier quoted context omitted.
You expect too much from the same people that complains about the simplest of things. Yours is the most down to earth approach to these issues . No need to look for an extreme, or fast solution (which I think is what drives these things; no data to back it up). Just some dedication and moderation. I don’t really like exercising, yet I try to find excuses to walk to the supermarket or to work (half an hour). I don’t r…
It's hard when so much of commerce is conspiring against us. I truly enjoy using Facebook (in the absence of a non-evil alternative) to interact with family and friends, but every time I do so I have to fight the platform's design that optimizes for quantity of interactions. I have tried doing a bit of woodworking when I need a break (I work from home), and I've found it's much better for my mental, emotional, and ph…
>It's hard when so much of commerce is conspiring against us.
It's true. I'm no health nut but I can't even consider a sugar-free lifestyle without going very much out of my way since everything has some sort of added sugar or sweetener.
Re: Dopamine Fasting
#103I find exercise is the best solution along similar lines for me, and has the added side effect of actually making you stronger and healthier. The difference is night and day:
If I don't regularly exercise, I'll get burned out very quickly on some task I would have normally found fun previously. E.g. some highly-intense game like a competitive multiplayer shooter, or even a difficult programming challenge. Even interacting with other people can suck in this mode.
If I am regularly exercising (I.e. 30 minutes of cardio every day or better), I can carry through marathon sessions of gaming or coding with a smile on my face the entire time. My social tolerance levels are infinitely higher than without.
I still don't fully understand all of the biology behind this, but it seems that regular exercise is a great way to pay-forward the debt that is incurred when you stimulate your dopamine receptors. Maybe there is some relationship between exercise/sleep/dopamine/serotonin, because I find that regular exercise yields substantially deeper sleep, and when I wake up from this I feel like I want to engage in challenging tasks.
Re: Dopamine Fasting
#104> The other day, Mr. Sinka ran into an old friend but had to tell her they could not continue speaking. > “I hadn’t seen her in six months, and it was extraordinarily exciting, super-stimulating, and I could feel how excited I was,” he said. “So I had to cut it off and I just said, ‘Listen, it’s not you, it’s me, doing this dopamine fast.’” If this were on HBO's Silicon Valley, we would dismiss it as too over-the-top…
I wouldn't be able to hold back laughter if I heard this. It seems like something a parody of hipsters would say. "My life is too good, I need to make it worse" but still be as self centered as possible. God forbid someone does difficult volunteer work instead of this "dopamine fast".
God forbid you do some difficult volunteer work instead of this "putting people down and mocking them" internet commenting.
Incidentally, why is it that so many people argue that wealth comes from doing things people value, but then support volunteer work? If it's the case that helping people makes money, all the people needing help should have entrepreneurs all over them, rather than hoping for unpaid volunteers. And why would people tend to become volunteers if continually told that virtue comes from measurably productive money making?
Re: Dopamine Fasting
#105isn't this just the Straight Edge thing that was popular in the 90s? There's a whole subculture for it.
Straight Edge people don't use drugs or drink, and some abstain from sex. I've also met a few that would instead get their rush from fighting non-edge people. Just like the people in the article, basing your entire personality around abstinence makes a person a 1-dimensional asshole.
> Just like the people in the article, basing your entire personality around abstinence makes a person a 1-dimensional asshole.
I'd say it can sometimes make you an asshole along many dimensions.
Re: Dopamine Fasting
#106I have used an herb Corydalis Yanhusuo [1] a dopamine D3 antagonist [2]. I buy the plum flower brand of tea pills [3] and take the normal recommended dose. It feels like anhedonia, relaxing, sort of similar to antipsychotics if you have ever taken anything like valproic acid. Don't take an absurd much or you'll get seratonin syndrome. p.s. it is also a great non narcotic solution for pain relief, more effective than…
I just go on a jog
Re: Dopamine Fasting
#107Earlier quoted context omitted.
You expect too much from the same people that complains about the simplest of things. Yours is the most down to earth approach to these issues . No need to look for an extreme, or fast solution (which I think is what drives these things; no data to back it up). Just some dedication and moderation. I don’t really like exercising, yet I try to find excuses to walk to the supermarket or to work (half an hour). I don’t r…
It's hard when so much of commerce is conspiring against us. I truly enjoy using Facebook (in the absence of a non-evil alternative) to interact with family and friends, but every time I do so I have to fight the platform's design that optimizes for quantity of interactions. I have tried doing a bit of woodworking when I need a break (I work from home), and I've found it's much better for my mental, emotional, and ph…
Cooking and baking are my big ones. It’s tactile. There’s an end to each session (as opposed to most side projects which have a nigh on infinite set of potential tasks, or work which is much the same).
I’m on my feet. I usually don’t have music or TV on so my brain gets a nice bit of breathing time and original thoughts bubble up.
And then if I’m doing dishes maybe I will turn music on, get a bit of dance on.
I love the smells of things as they sauté, or roast, or bake. And the sounds of the knife hitting the chopping board, or the water coming from the faucet, or the coffee grinding and gurgling (especially in the mornings).
And then I get to eat something delicious (the vast majority of the time). And I love learning about new flavors, and how I can combine them and using new techniques with high quality ingredients.
Very pleasant. My Pops does woodworking and stained glass making and photography and cooks and bakes and I imagine it’s much the same. Tactile, not a lot of screens, on the feet, keeps the brain energized and making new neural connections.
Definitely better than looking at page 12 of Reddit (for me, although I do that sometimes too).
Re: Dopamine Fasting
#108Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you're ever in a management position, I hope for your sake -- and your subordinates' -- you outgrow that notion.
You can be helping and serving without having any leadership impact or role. Completely. Overwhelming majority of people who help others or server others are not leaders. Helping and serving others will not put you into leadership position nor proves you are capable of leadership. And while good leaders help on occasions, they are not serving not the bulk of that role does not consists of helping and serving.
The concept you are looking to read up on is servant leadership. It's entire thesis is that a leader serves those "below" them.
Re: Dopamine Fasting
#109Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't know about that... for example, as smartphones become more and more ubiquitous, it becomes easy and cheap for people of all income levels to indulge in visual & auditory sensory overload. I'm currently traveling in Asia and it's jarring to see the number of people sitting idly, watching some random YouTube videos or Facebooking to pass the time.
The internet tells me that smoking costs about $2k a year. I’m pretty sure people are spending that much on cell phones now.
Hm. ~$600/yr for a not-great data plan. Call it $200/yr for the cheapest phone that won't make you want to toss it off a bridge or crush it underfoot, if you keep it three years. $800/yr as kinda the minimum to have a phone with the capabilities and usability to actually do anything with it without going into frugal-enough-it's-A-Thing-for-you territory, yeah, I could see $2k/yr not being that far off for a lot of people. Throw in $200/yr of IAP or subscriptions, a better data plan with a more realistic cap for heavy use, replacing your phone every two years instead of three and getting top-end models rather than older or mid-range ones.
Yeah, $2k/yr's probably not an uncommon amount of cellphone-related spending in the US, I bet.
Re: Dopamine Fasting
#110Earlier quoted context omitted.
I wouldn't be able to hold back laughter if I heard this. It seems like something a parody of hipsters would say. "My life is too good, I need to make it worse" but still be as self centered as possible. God forbid someone does difficult volunteer work instead of this "dopamine fast".
God forbid you do some difficult volunteer work instead of this "putting people down and mocking them" internet commenting. Incidentally, why is it that so many people argue that wealth comes from doing things people value, but then support volunteer work? If it's the case that helping people makes money, all the people needing help should have entrepreneurs all over them, rather than hoping for unpaid volunteers. An…
I do both, and I'm also not sure what your tangent has to do with me.