Current Events > Apparently the reason everyone is depressed is because pleasure comes too easy

(+) Yeah! (+)

I'm reading a book called Behave right now that talks about how the brain works.

An emptiness comes from this combination of over-the-top nonnatural sources of reward and the inevitability of habituation; this is because unnaturally strong explosions of synthetic experience and sensation and pleasure evoke unnaturally strong degrees of habituation.90 This has two consequences. First, soon we barely notice the fleeting whispers of pleasure caused by leaves in autumn, or by the lingering glance of the right person, or by the promise of reward following a difficult, worthy task. And the other consequence is that we eventually habituate to even those artificial deluges of intensity.

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That's interesting, though I think there's something to be said about so much quick dopamine release moments by way of social media likes and shit, without any sort of depth or meaning behind why it makes you feel good. It's like shoving your face full of candy all the time and not getting any protein.

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Yeah, but is that true?

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ohnoitschris posted...

That's interesting, though I think there's something to be said about so much quick dopamine release moments by way of social media likes and shit, without any sort of depth or meaning behind why it makes you feel good. It's like shoving your face full of candy all the time and not getting any protein.

Pretty sure I've read stuff like this before. It makes a lot of sense.

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Ok so apparently the author is a professor at stanford, but seriously, how the fuck you gonna listen to a guy that looks like this: https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/312fEmnEgcL._US230_.jpg

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TomNook20 posted...

Ok so apparently the author is a professor at stanford, but seriously, how the fuck you gonna listen to a guy that looks like this: https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/312fEmnEgcL._US230_.jpg

I don't like to judge a person's credibility based on their appearance.

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I don't think it's the main reason but I do think it's one of many reasons why people are depressed. I still think the main reason is that people spend too much time online, reading things that upset them but don't directly have an effect on them, arguing with people they'll never meet, and chasing for online validation from those very same people. Also, seeing so many memes about how miserable you should be as if it's a normal thing doesn't help, either.

Apparently the reason everyone is depressed is because pleasure comes too easy

doubtful.

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Squall28 posted...

I don't like to judge a person's credibility based on their appearance.

It sure helps, though

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PesticideDream posted...

I don't think it's the main reason but I do think it's one of many reasons why people are depressed. I still think the main reason is that people spend too much time online, reading things that upset them but don't directly have an effect on them, arguing with people they'll never meet, and chasing for online validation from those very same people. Also, seeing so many memes about how miserable you should be as if it's a normal thing doesn't help, either.

Yeah, that's a big one. Rage sells very well and spreads like a virus, so a lot of news out there is written specifically to enrage the reader. It's very, very toxic for your mental well-being. It's no wonder why so many people who get impotently mad at Trump online are feeling increasingly anxious and depressed - you gotta change what's around you for the better, you ain't gonna magically change the rest of the world alone. And the more depressed and anxious you become, the less you can change things for the better.

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