121–130 of 148 posts
"Commercial breaks––people actually enjoy TV more with commercials." I've never enjoyed being disrupted by commercials nor has anyone else. This is why Tivo became so popular
"Commercial breaks––people actually enjoy TV more with commercials." I've never enjoyed being disrupted by commercials nor has anyone else. This is why Tivo became so popular
Anna Lembke’s “Dopamine Nation” has a lot of interesting takes on the subject. One takeaway I got is that dopamine seeks a balance. Opting for pleasure seeking often ends up getting experienced as pain. An example of that is drug tolerance. Oddly, the reverse is also true: seeking pain can often lead to an experience of pleasure. The invigorated feeling after a cold shower, or how hard exercise leads to highs. She is…
Are exercise highs real? Do all people experience them or is it a genetic niche? I've tried a bunch of different exercise methods. Gone running, swimming, weightlifting etc and I've never experienced anything close to a high afterward. I'll be tired, sometimes I'll feel proud of breaking a personal record but there's never any physical positive sensation or euphoria to me that would resemble the "runners high" that p…
On that run as I warmed up I felt a giant release. And I felt happy... no giddy. And it was good. A few miles later I felt peace and then ran some more til I felt tired.
It's different than just putting some stuff in your nose and feeling good or popping a pill and seeing bright colors.
That's the most intense I ever felt it, but it was a good experience because it also helped me understand what it was, and I notice it often now - not every time I work out, but often - its there under the tired, post work-out let-down as sort of a "glow".
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Those Civ5/Civ6 custom maps won't beat themselves... IOW, there's plenty other activities that heavily involve logical side which are not paid coding work.
Of course there are plenty of other activities, but I get paid to do this and I like the ability to actually build something. Civ5/Civ6 feels meaningless in comparison. What have I actually effected in the world? Nothing
Great article, but this is a ridiculously hard to parse sentence with the number of `ands` and `ors`.
The idea of hacking the hedonic treadmill misses one important point: the mind adapts to these hacks as well. And now you are looking for more hacks.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
IME, meaning is far more satiating than happiness simply because it is able to offset more BS than being happy will. More to your question: what happens is your tolerance for meaninglessness decreases, which has good and bad side effects.
> your tolerance for meaninglessness decreases I think part of what keeps me locked on to the hedonistic treadmill is that a lot of other people (including my partner) don't like who I am when I'm trying to stay off it. I tend to get more intense about a lot of things most folks don't care about. It's funny, out of my whole family & friend circle I'm probably doing the most damage to myself via self medication, but w…
Others in your life may say they support your emphasis on spiritual growth, but what if that entails being passed up for a promotion, and, ergo, a raise? Most families would appreciate an extra $1k a month. Not every situation is either-or, but you quickly get a sense for what pragmatism means to people.
Often, it means comfort.
I hope you find the courage to continue to pursue meaning. It is good, as you say. Me, I made a bit of a deal with myself to make it a very high priority in my life when it is lacking. When necessary, meaning goes into the non-negotiable bucket.
"Commercial breaks––people actually enjoy TV more with commercials." I've never enjoyed being disrupted by commercials nor has anyone else. This is why Tivo became so popular
A lot of shows are/were designed with commercials in mind. For example, the villain will shoot at the protagonist without showing whether or not the shots hit until after the commercial break. That extended suspense has been more or less lost in the age of Netflix (unless shows design for that suspense in another way).
Or worse, until the next episode which would air the following week...or year if it's a season cliffhanger. I have mixed feelings about binge-streaming, but shoehorned cliffhangers are bad IMO.
Anna Lembke’s “Dopamine Nation” has a lot of interesting takes on the subject. One takeaway I got is that dopamine seeks a balance. Opting for pleasure seeking often ends up getting experienced as pain. An example of that is drug tolerance. Oddly, the reverse is also true: seeking pain can often lead to an experience of pleasure. The invigorated feeling after a cold shower, or how hard exercise leads to highs. She is…
Are exercise highs real? Do all people experience them or is it a genetic niche? I've tried a bunch of different exercise methods. Gone running, swimming, weightlifting etc and I've never experienced anything close to a high afterward. I'll be tired, sometimes I'll feel proud of breaking a personal record but there's never any physical positive sensation or euphoria to me that would resemble the "runners high" that p…
But after a good challenging bike ride I have 30 minutes to 1 hour of feeling great.