Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit
sph | on: Dopamine Fracking
You are seeing the effect for the cause. Humans (life in general) are effort minimizer machines, it doesn’t mean that maximum optimization is the ideal environment for a human to thrive.

Any caveman would have loved to have to choose between favourite junk food franchises instead of risking his life chasing woolly mammoths not to starve.

vladms | parent | next
From what I see, there are many people that don't want to be "bored" more than the people that don't want to be "tired". Of course there are many that want to be neither (so we get social media that gives you "not bored" and "not tired"), but I don't think we can generalize for 100% for neither category.
throw4847285 | root | parent | next
We’re tired and bored. We're tired and bored. We're tired and bored. We're tired and bored.[0]

[0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBngZh8H2FU

sph | root | parent
It helps to view it under a neurological perspective.

Not being bored = likely scrolling social media = dopamine release = the exact mechanism that reinforces patterns and behaviours in our brain, which under some conditions can reach stages of compulsion. I loath to blame the individual when these systems are designed to exploit flaws in human behaviour.

I recently read a self-help book by B.J. Fogg, a professor at Stanford Behavior Design Lab (formerly known as the Persuasive Technology Lab) that was boasting how he mentored the Instagram founders and helped them optimize their app for maximum engagement. The book itself was pretty good, but I couldn't help but think I'm reading the words of a complete sociopath that has indirectly caused untold psychological damage, and was pretty proud about it.

Is it Jane Doe's fault that she's now hopelessly addicted to Instagram?

goodpoint | parent | next
By this logic travel and tourism would not exist.
leonidasrup | root | parent | next
"Travel outside a person's local area for leisure was largely confined to wealthy classes, who at times travelled to distant parts of the world, to see great buildings and works of art, learn new languages, experience new cultures, enjoy pristine nature and to taste different cuisines."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism

vincnetas | root | parent
well, we are also a bit of pleasure machines also. And most of vacations are relaxing. So again optimisation.
keybored | parent | next
It was at this supposed peak of Dopamine Fracking that intellectual conversation found a renaissance. Anthropology in particular reached its pinnacle in a unifying theory of everything: it’s just human nature.
ErroneousBosh | parent
> Humans (life in general) are effort minimizer machines, it doesn’t mean that maximum optimization is the ideal environment for a human to thrive.

My 5-and-a-half-year-old son would recommend this book to you:

https://www.booksfortopics.com/book/the-couch-potato/

It covers this quite succinctly.