Pleasure-Saturated
We Homo Sapiens are notorious for avoiding pain and seeking pleasure. In fact, we have transformed the planet from a place of scarcity to a place of overwhelming abundance, with ample opportunities to flood our brains with dopamine at every turn.
But over-consuming has consequences: Exposure to prolonged and repeated pleasurable stimuli decreases our capacity to tolerate pain and increases our threshold for experiencing pleasure.
On today’s show: Resetting your neural set point to make dopamine work FOR you, not against you.
Here’s a preview:
[3:00] Here’s exactly why our brains aren’t designed to work optimally in our 2024 world of pleasure
[7:00] Measuring the dopamine-induced addictive potential of various foods, habits, and drugs
[10:00] What goes up must come down: Here’s what opponent process theory means for you and your brain
[14:00] Quantifying leisure time from the Civil War to present day
[24:00] Dopamine fasts work! Here’s how to recalibrate your brain
[28:00] How to best lean into a bit of pain (and why you may want to)
Resources mentioned:
- Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance In The Age Of Indulgence (by Dr. Anna Lembke)
- Episode #316: Moderation In All Things
- Episode #299: Future-Conscious Thinking
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