I'm going to have to read this carefully, but on skimming it: This is great. Reframing is a critical tool for self-state management and satisfaction, and your article gets at the nuts and bolts of it.
It strikes me as one of those "mystical", "occult" principles translated into something hardcore materialists can accept.
If I get a podcast up and running about solutions to the problems societies are currently experiencing (I have a lot of show prep, 160 subscribers to my 'stack, and maybe a co-host lined up), is this something you'd be interesting in engaging in a discussion about?
I was following Substack links looking for a dopamine hit and came across this very interesting article. I shall now both agree and quibble.
Dopamine is not the only pleasure chemical. Agreed. And getting on the dopamine treadmill, be it Facebook or Las Vegas, is generally a Very Bad Thing.
The Quibble: the quest for that sense of Contentment also has its dangers and abuses. Behold the obsession with neatness in Zen monasteries, and Japan in general. Watch videos of extreme Minimalists in action. Their quests to achieve that sense of All is Well can lead to obsessions as bad as gambling addicts at the slot machines. (Green tea makes this obsession worse, in my experience.) Read Tim Ferris' blog posts on the effort he, and his servants, put into creating his ideal work environment.
I enjoy savoring that sense of All is Well myself, when I can get it. But when the chaos level is high, I have greater Inner Peace by blocking out the state that I am in, and instead focus on the dopamine hits I get from reducing the chaos. (But it IS important to get on the Dopamine Stairway, not the Dopamine Treadmill!)
The important lesson is: rotate your highs. The Old Testament calls for going for the dopamine rush six days a week during the work day, and savoring the results at the end of the work day, c.f. , "And He saw that it was good." And one day a week, do no creative work at all.
Loved this piece - thank you for taking the time to write it.
I actually started to read it in the voice of Alan Tudyk (Resident Alien) - it suits it very much!
I'm going to have to read this carefully, but on skimming it: This is great. Reframing is a critical tool for self-state management and satisfaction, and your article gets at the nuts and bolts of it.
It strikes me as one of those "mystical", "occult" principles translated into something hardcore materialists can accept.
If I get a podcast up and running about solutions to the problems societies are currently experiencing (I have a lot of show prep, 160 subscribers to my 'stack, and maybe a co-host lined up), is this something you'd be interesting in engaging in a discussion about?
This was a really great post, thanks.
Brilliant! Eastern spirituality for rationalists
I was following Substack links looking for a dopamine hit and came across this very interesting article. I shall now both agree and quibble.
Dopamine is not the only pleasure chemical. Agreed. And getting on the dopamine treadmill, be it Facebook or Las Vegas, is generally a Very Bad Thing.
The Quibble: the quest for that sense of Contentment also has its dangers and abuses. Behold the obsession with neatness in Zen monasteries, and Japan in general. Watch videos of extreme Minimalists in action. Their quests to achieve that sense of All is Well can lead to obsessions as bad as gambling addicts at the slot machines. (Green tea makes this obsession worse, in my experience.) Read Tim Ferris' blog posts on the effort he, and his servants, put into creating his ideal work environment.
I enjoy savoring that sense of All is Well myself, when I can get it. But when the chaos level is high, I have greater Inner Peace by blocking out the state that I am in, and instead focus on the dopamine hits I get from reducing the chaos. (But it IS important to get on the Dopamine Stairway, not the Dopamine Treadmill!)
The important lesson is: rotate your highs. The Old Testament calls for going for the dopamine rush six days a week during the work day, and savoring the results at the end of the work day, c.f. , "And He saw that it was good." And one day a week, do no creative work at all.