BEEP BEEP BEEP!!! The clock wakes us up and it seems as though we are constantly in a race against time, constantly running and attempting to get things done on time. Lines and delays frustrate us more than anything else because we feel as though our time is being wasted. Online shopping, grocery delivery, fast food, 24/7 customer service, and the like have greatly increased in popularity as, more and more often, people are trying to save time whenever they can. Our entertainment has also taken a hit. While it seems unwise to spend one and a half hours watching a movie, we see nothing wrong with simply scrolling through social media for hours for a “quick” respite after work. And after we receive a quick dopamine boost, we get sucked into the trap of quick pleasure.
In her “Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in an Age of Indulgence,” Psychiatrist Anna Lembke writes: “We’re living in a time of unprecedented access to high-reward, high-dopamine stimuli: drugs, food, news, gambling, shopping, gaming, texting, sexting, Facebooking, Instagramming, YouTubing, tweeting . . . The increased numbers, variety, and potency are staggering. The smartphone is the modern-day hypodermic needle, delivering digital dopamine 24/7 for a wired generation. As such, we’ve all become vulnerable to compulsive overconsumption.”
This prognosis is startling. Yet, she is correct. The easily accessible world of our phones and all they have to offer trains us to receive instantaneous pleasure. This drive for instant gratification, which is the result of us having grown accustomed to quick pleasure, often causes us to over-consume. How often have you opened your phone for a quick check, only to find yourself still there half an hour later? This behavior, which is the norm for most of the population living in a highly-stimulated world, can cause our minds to be overworked, processing too much information at any moment in time. The quickness and ease with which we can access almost anything also results in a attention span, resulting in people finding it difficult to focus on one thing for long periods of time. And with the crush of class deadlines and the like, we have even less time than before, leading us back to seeking quick dopamine boosts. The result is a vicious cycle that never seems to end.
Yet, it can be broken. We do not need to rush to quick and instantaneous highs. It will take effort, but the result will be worth it. While there may not be anything inherently wrong with the availability of goods, services, and entertainment, we ought to be careful as to how and why we turn to them. Overuse them, and we train our brains to have a short attention span. Yet they can also be an amazing tool to benefit our lives.
The issue is not so much the presence of these quick mood boosts and fast services but rather the over-dependence we have on them. The “digital dopamine” addiction is the result of training our minds for immediate gratification. The problem is not that we have or even that we use our devices – the problem is the constant desire to turn to them. It is implied then that in order for us to be able to avoid addiction, we need to monitor our use of these quick-pleasure devices. How can you do that? You can set up reminders in settings to let you know when you are spending more than a given amount of time on that app. You can substitute your phone with things like exercise, reading, music, or just mindful relaxing. After training ourselves to receive immediate joy by using our devices, we lose some of the more simple things in life. So, even though there is nothing wrong with scrolling on our devices, simply going for a walk may be more rewarding in the long term. Try slowing down in this fast-paced world, and you will discover that it has its benefits.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of 老司机传媒. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, 老司机传媒 or the Seventh-day Adventist church.