Dopamine Culture, Boyfriend Acting Strange and The Yoga Sutras (Part 2)

March 31, 2024

Dopamine culture.

Topic submitted by: Zach H. from Denver, CO

A friend shared an image from Ted Gioia’s substack “The Honest Broker“, and some lightbulbs went off in my mind. The image below is an adaptation from his original diagram. Study it for a moment and then read on.

From travel to art to science to business to romance, technology (coupled with shifting cultural values) is impacting the very core of our society. All of us see that.

For over a century, though, we were unable to confidently say whether these impacts were good for us or not.

From all of the mental health issues we’re seeing crop up nowadays, I think we can conclusively say that many of these behavioral shifts are (on average) a net-negative for us.

That is, our nervous systems simply aren’t evolved to handle 12+ hours a day of nonstop stimulation year after year after year, nor are our minds able to endure a constant onslaught of shiny, tantalizing options.

Insanely, we are still only at the beginning of this cognitive warfare. Get ready: with the advent of AI and Web3, the battle for your attention is about to get much, much more intense.

Practice

Is it even possible to return to a slower-paced way of life? Yes, definitely. Here are a few ideas to consider for protecting your sanity:

Make it a rule to turn your phone off at 7-8pm and only turn it back on the next morning when you absolutely have to. Humanity has survived hundreds of thousands of years without this technology; you can adapt for a few hours.
Take an electronic-free walk in a park without shoes. The foot-ground sensory connection will immediately remind you of your roots and slow your mind down.
Slice up a bowl of fresh fruit and enjoy it outside, being mindful with every bite. All of the high-octane media is sapping your brain’s glucose resources, and these clean carbohydrates will help you recover.
Go to a concert or event entirely without your phone.

This list is not exhaustive, but there is a common thread: unplug. Take some serious time away from the digital noise in your pocket. Yes, there will be an adjustment period — you’ll periodically panic when you realize your phone isn’t with you. But you will quickly get used to it and feel liberated by its absence.

P.S. Dopamine is a brain neurotransmitter involved in feelings of pleasure, satisfaction and motivation. It plays a crucial role in desire and habit formation, making it a prime candidate for media companies to try and leverage.

My boyfriend is acting strange around me all of a sudden.

Topic submitted by: Eli Y. from Richmond, VA

I sense an underlying question in your submission: ”Is my boyfriend going to break up with me?” “Is he cheating on me?” “Has he lost all interest?”

For whatever reason, the mind likes to spiral into worst-case thinking, despite how rational we try to be.

That doesn’t mean you’re wrong to be concerned, though. Generally speaking, you can trust your intuition about what energy a person is projecting.

What you normally can’t trust your intuition on, though, is what is causing their energy projection.

He could be acting strange because he is fighting off a flu virus, or has low blood sugar, or watched a disturbing TV show a few days ago, or is trying to solve a particularly difficult problem at work.

Or maybe your nightmare scenario is correct — maybe he did meet an incredible woman last week, they hit it off, and now he’s experiencing cognitive dissonance about your relationship.

Who knows!

The point is this: healthy relationships — romantic or otherwise — require honest communication. You simply won’t know what’s going on until you ask.

And what if you have asked, and he said “nothing”? Three scenarios:

He doesn’t feel safe enough in your relationship to tell you the truth.
He’s not in touch with his feelings enough to notice that he’s acting differently.
He doesn’t feel safe enough in your relationship to tell you the truth, and he’s not in touch with his feelings enough to notice that he’s acting differently.

In either case, the greatest gift you can give him is to lay down all arms and prove to him — genuinely — that you won’t judge his thoughts and feelings, and then be patient with his processing and healing.

“Yogas citta vrtti nirodhah.” — The Yoga Sutras [1.2]

Quote submitted by: Josiah M. from Bali, Indonesia

(This is part 2 of 4 on a series about the Yoga Sutras.)

As mentioned, the Yoga Sutras are an extremely helpful guide for enlightenment and liberation.

“Citta vrtti nirodhah” — the second sutra — is the practice of yoga, and can be understood as “stilling the fluctuations of the mind stuff.” “Mind stuff” is all thought-related phenomena, such as internal images, sounds, memories, visions, ideas, and identifications.

The practice of yoga, then, according to the Sutras, is to calm the endless, rapid-fire succession of citta vrtti — “mind stuff fluctuations”.

“Endless” and “rapid-fire” are not exaggerations, either. Even as you read these words, you are battling a raging torrent of internal commentary asking for your attention.

Even crazier, what you believe is a single thought is actually trillions of nano-thoughts arising so rapidly that they seem to appear as one thing.

Trillions!?

Yes, trillions. Maybe more.

Scientists report that light coming from LED screens (like the one you’re staring at right now) appears to be one continuous beam, but is actually comprised of an innumerable stream of short photon particles, too fast for your visual system to notice individually.

Thoughts are like this, too, only faster.

This means you have countless words and images bubbling into your mind at any given second — even now.

The good news, according to the Yoga Sutras, is that beyond these thoughts lies the Truth of who and what you are. And that through correct yoga practice, you are guaranteed to get there.

Stay tuned next week for part 3 of this series.