brain chemicals

unable to execute suicide.exe, please contact your administrator survival instincts

Depends on the thing. Biological imperatives are kinda baked in genetically, for example. And how much “will to power” you have (in a Nietzschean kinda way) about different topics will determine how many fucks to give about any particular thing. There is probably some brain science that can point to particular regions as drivers of this process, which then becomes a mix of genetic predisposition, and also environment/experiences that shape brain development.

But take all of this with a giant grain of salt. These kinds of questions will have shades of an answer from different perspectives: philosophical, scientific, religious, etc. None of them are 100% correct because we still don’t even understand consciousness

Dopamine.

Now, what your particular wiring that triggers dopamine hits that are unique to any of us, we only find out by exploring ourselves by exposing ourselves to the many experiences in life. For some of those things we’ll instantly connect to it (because of a dopamine hit) or identify some part of the activity which will lead us to refining the experience to get the better result.

My thought is if we replace the small dopamine hits we get from these genuine experiences or interests with easy chemical dopamine sources (drugs or alcohol) in excess, we would become bored with life. If we can get a 10x hit from simply drinking something rather than the 1x from a small personal improvement in a skill we have an interest in, that drink will nearly always win out.

This isn’t supposed to be preachy though. Each of us gets to decide for ourselves. This is just how I figured out how I work.

Lemmy is feeling really existential today

Boredom, deadline induced adrenaline, and an unhealthy amount of alcohol. If I’m lucky, the project will fall under my current hyperfixation, and that will make it easier.

I don’t recommend my strat.

Spite is my biggest driver. If I have a reason to do something out of spite I will not back down

for me, spite.

I’ll be damned if I’m going to prove all the abusive adults from my childhood right. most of them are dead by now, but fuck them. I won’t win unless they’re all dead.

Because doing nothing is boring.

Depends on the thing and the mood I’m in. Sometimes I just have to be pragmatic - my life will be better in the long run if I do this because I’ll keep my job, my house will be clean, etc. Sometimes the thing I’m doing is just really fun. Sometimes it’s fun to just check boxes, like your completing tasks in a videogame. And finally, once you’ve established a habit like exercise or stretching or learning a language, it just feels wrong to not do it every day.

Hunger and sex

Boredom.

Big problem today because screens have ensured you are never bored, and so innovation and creativity suffer, and depression skyrockets.

Try this: throw your phone in a drawer for the weekend. I guarantee after Sunday you’ll have done a whole bunch of fun and different things you never would have if you were glued to your phone. Bonus points if you disconnect your router too.