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“Luck is the last refuge of the incompetent,”
On average across the globe, human beings are wealthier, healthier, more literate, longer lived, and safer than at any time in history. But, ironically, we’re also more pessimistic and stressed out than ever before. Many of us feel like hamsters running on a never-ending but ever-accelerating wheel. “Because of this rising stress, more and more of us are seeking an escape, and there are more and more avenues of addiction to turn to.
“we’re more polarized than ever, more propagandized than ever. And this is only getting worse as new tech, especially social media and 24/7 news, divide us. First, we’re each getting individualized news feeds, so no two debaters are even working from the same set of facts, the same objective reality. And social media provides an anonymous platform to spew venom, to unleash our worst selves on each other, bypassing the normal restraints that evolution has built into us when interacting in person.”
The internet may be mankind’s greatest tool, but it’s also our most dangerous gateway to behavioral addiction. With cell phones being its most potent delivery vehicle.
Do you know why you aren’t charged to use social media platforms? Because you aren’t the customer. You’re the product.”
But the same mechanisms that push us into behaviors that are good for us can easily be hijacked by external agents.”
“When it becomes uncontrollable. Not just a craving for something with great intensity, although that’s part of it. But a loss of control over its use. Along with a continuing involvement with the substance or behavior despite clearly negative consequences.
“The word addiction is from the Latin,” said Singh. “Its original meaning is enslaved by or bound to.
“We used to think the pleasure alone was sufficient for addictive behavior. But it’s much more complicated than that. Dopamine also plays a role in learning and memory. These are both critical in the transition from enjoying a thing to becoming addicted to it.”
Her story was too bizarre to be true—yet it was. Sometimes even the unlikeliest of events could happen.
