Danial, Week 12: Cheap Dopamine and Power
“In an age of consumerism and materialism, I traffic in blue sky and colored air.” - James Turrell
There is no doubt that modern society is in an age of consumerism, defined by cheap dopamine accessible to all with the click of a few buttons. Whether it's from junk food, mindless scrolling, or abusive drinking, cheap dopamine has overtaken modern society by storm due to its simple accessibility and seemingly instant benefits.
Cheap dopamine comes from sources that provide momentary pleasure, such as drugs or alcohol, but lead to long-term pain, like addiction or distraction. This addiction damages an individual's power by ruining their mood, weakening their willpower, and preventing them from reaching their full potential.
While some sources such as doing drugs, gambling, and excessive drinking are publicized as bad for you, sources such as junk food, mindless social media scrolling, and binge-watching have snuck past and integrated into American society.
These sources have become commonplace in almost all Americans' lives and have become a part of American culture, causing cheap dopamine to be merged into our daily lives. A few months ago, I even wrote a blog on the benefits of fast food to American society without realizing its addictive nature.
Most of the time, I am honestly unaware of my consumption of cheap dopamine, like today when I found myself scrolling for over two hours and devouring a deluxe Chick-fil-A sandwich after school. However, I feel it helps to be aware because while it’s extremely difficult to cut all outputs of cheap dopamine from your life, it is easy to significantly reduce its consumption by taking a break once in a while.
Hello Danial! I like how you opened your blog with a quote, which I interpret as enjoying the real world outside of "cheap dopamine." By listing all different kinds of cheap dopamine, ranging from junk food to even drugs, you assert what type of things people typically allow to replace "real dopamine." I agree that many people don't realize that junk food, social media, and binge-watching shows and films can be a type of cheap dopamine. Although they don't have as much of a harmful impact as drugs, gambling, and excessive drinking, they are still activities that can start to become bad for our health. We all have our own sort of cheap dopamine, and like you, I find myself indulging in Chick-fil-A too while on social media (more than I probably should). It is vital to incorporate real dopamine into our lives to live a happy, healthy life! Your blog was well-written and highly educational.
ReplyDeleteHi Daniel, cheap dopamine has become a larger problem in modern society due to the easy access. You mentioned drugs, alcohol, social media, junk food, and gambling can all have negative effects. One of the reasons humans are so vulnerable to quick dopamine hits is because of an inability to delay gratification. For most of history, humans have survived through chasing these dopamine abundant activities. Eating food, creating social connections and having kids were all different activities that kept us alive. However, today these pleasures are everywhere, and as a result of over consumption, we become numb to activities that release less dopamine but are healthier overtime. Similar to drugs and melatonin, by continuing to have cheap dopamine, your body establishes a baseline, where to get the same effect, you need to consume more. As a result, you can fall into a downward spiral, where you struggle to find satisfaction from normal activities, which can lead to depression. with such little awareness about it, and the constant easy access through consumer culture, easy dopamine has become dangerous to society.
ReplyDeleteHey Danial,
ReplyDeleteI really like how you began your blog with a quote from James Turrell. I respect his perspective as an artist, especially due to his focus on light and space. To me, cheap dopamine is short dopamine. Things like alcohol, drugs, and television can only make one happy for a little but over time they have detrimental risks. I myself have fallen victim to cheap dopamine often from scrolling on Tiktok for hours on end to eating unhealthy fast foods. Like you said, I’ve been working to be aware of the times I let cheap dopamine consume me so that I can prevent it from happening in the future. I don’t believe there is anything wrong with cheap dopamine, but I do believe that cheap dopamine should only be indulged in rarely. If we let all our dopamine come from things like alcohol and technology, it will have detrimental effects over time. Some ways I’ve been trying to gain real dopamine are through exercise and good sleep. Thank you for writing this blog!