The rise of dopamine culture...



A 150 years ago

Athletics - work on a farm
Journalism - books
Video - live plays
Music - Pa playing on his banjo
Images - look at figures in the clouds
Communication - telegrams and old fashioned hand written mail delivered on horseback.
Relationships - arranged marriages

You all are frickin spoiled, even the old farts that are alive today. Now get off my lawn.
 




guffus said:
Heard something clever today

People 50 years ago had 3 or 4 kids.

People today have 3 or 4 dads.
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I will say…

In the 50s-90s there were a LOT of parents who really, really messed their kids up bad by staying married “for the kids.” I’ve known plenty of them. I also know plenty of people with step moms and step dads who are very well adjusted and successful in many respects. Many of them may not have been if they lived in households where mom and dad hated each other but stayed married “for them.”

Staying married for bullshit reasons always does more harm than good. Just because an archaic book says you should always stay married no matter what doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do. There are lots and lots of archaic books, unfortunately.
 


“Slow cancellation of the future.”

You can google it to get a better definition. It primarily applies to music, but you can apply it across pop culture. It is basically the theory of a “better tomorrow” slowly being replaced by a recycled past. It is a little deeper than that, but it is the general idea.

Monoculture

Is an agricultural term that now has become a buzzword in general. Even though we had our own lanes, in the past, we all knew what was popular. Now, the internet/technology has destroyed “monoculture”.

Full disclosure, I didn’t listen to the podcast that the OP linked. I know that Derek Thompson is a really smart tech writer/podcastor that pops up on the Bill Simmons podcast 3 or 4 times a year. I saw this thread and read through it. It is just stuff that immediately came to mind.
 


Chasing dopamine through technology is the most damaging thing to our society right now, in my opinion.

Tech companies are the new big tobacco, although far more damaging. They are continually "enhancing" products through research to make them more and more addictive and manipulate users into greater use, despite knowing all the damage they are causing.

It's scary as hell, especially the impact on kids and young adults.
 










guffus said:
Is chasing dopamine through technology worse than the old way with sex, drugs and alcohol.
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People stopped chasing with those things?? Don't think so but add in the technology. Changes it like tinder "dates" set up instead of going out to "that part of town" perhaps.
 


guffus said:
Is chasing dopamine through technology worse than the old way with sex, drugs and alcohol.
Click to expand...

I think key differences are availability and social stigma. All of the things you mention have a stigma attached to them, and they all tend to have particular times and places they are considered okay.

There really isn't a stigma attached to using your smart phone, and they are available at all times.
 


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