The Dopamine Industrial Complex
They've been hacking adults for centuries, now they have the kids...
“The first message I want to get across about social media is it really is a drug. And it’s intended to be a drug.” – Dr. Anna Lembke
You’ll only send money to a ‘Nigerian’ relative or trust a phishing scam once, if ever. Yet throughout history, we allow our brains to be repeatedly hacked through the same neurological pathway - dopamine.
What is dopamine?
Dopamine is the motivation molecule in our brain that focuses our attention towards pursuing things we desire and is essentially responsible for how excited, motivated or willing we are to complete a task (more info in our detox guide here). It is what drives us to exercise, eat and even turn up for work, but unfortunately, dopamine doesn’t care about the pursuit, which is why it lies at the heart of all addictions. The trouble starts when we don’t let our dopamine levels reset naturally and keep chasing the hit and, as the debt always needs to be paid, we crash into a dopamine deficit - which orients our behaviour towards chasing more - cravings.
Historical hacking
Companies (and cartels) have made fortunes hacking this dopamine system, creating addiction after addiction without much regard for the health of the individual or society as a whole. The OG’s of the dopamine industrial complex (DIC) - tobacco, drugs, gambling and alcohol - have been around forever but, thankfully, scientific advancements have allowed us to understand the detriments that excessive consumption has on our mental and physical health. Addiction is the narrowing of things that give us pleasure, and you start engaging in a behaviour repeatedly in search of a dopamine hit in spite of harm to yourself or others.
Over the years we have witnessed the expansion of the DIC. Modern food and drink industries now use dopamine-enhancing processing techniques to add extra sugar, flavours, MSG and so on, contributing significantly to a global obesity crisis. The internet alone has provided easy access to dopamine dumps via online shopping, streaming platforms, pornography, and even dating, but at least for a while you had to go to your computer to access any of these. Even with smoking taking a downtrend, we now have a new, unregulated vaping market, which hasn’t been around long enough to study the health consequences.
The hacking of children
Those products and services all have their own consequences for society, but fortunately, they are typically aimed at adults who are free to do (legally) what they choose and parents or teachers get 15-odd years to educate children on the matter before they fly from the nest and make their own mistakes. Now, the sneaky buggers have bypassed this through the development of the two industries which seem to be devastating young people the most. Social media and ‘gaming’.
Video gaming, the hacking of (mostly) boys, uses classic reward systems to provide instant gratification the entire time you play through task completion, levelling up and unlocking achievements etc. to make the whole experience very rewarding. Evidence suggests that this is detrimental to a child’s ability to delay gratification and focus for extended periods when they are not getting immediate feedback. Thankfully, awareness of gaming addictions is spreading via school campaigns, with specialised clinics starting to treat it.
Social media, the hacking of (mostly) girls, uses dopamine-driven-feedback-loops through likes, comments and shares, to play on social insecurities and our proclivities for FOMO. All of this is boosted by an algorithm designed to only show you what you desire, but slightly different, so it’s novel, which also boosts dopamine…brilliant. The mental health issues, like anxiety, and depression, are soaring in teenagers, but with children having their own smartphones and tablets even earlier, this could be a long-term disaster if not managed appropriately.
What can we do?
We change our behaviour when at least one of the following happens: we see enough to be inspired to; learn enough to want to; receive enough to be able to; or hurt enough to have to.
The aim of this post is not to demonise all of these industries or spread fear of the future, but to build an awareness of the biological processes that companies are taking advantage of before children have to change their behaviour. We do this by educating ourselves and our children, and putting systems in place when their brains are developing so that we can take advantage of technological innovations, rather than be at their mercy. The idea of a dopamine detox is currently being studied, but there are protocols which can use to modulate our dopamine levels.
As a child, i always disliked not being allowed to have video games in the house. As an adult, now that I have seen how many of my male friends play video games incessantly, I am grateful for the wisdom of my parents to not let a house full of boys have them.
My wife and I are perpetually prepping for the cell phone and video game arguments as our kids get older.
Interesting article! You Highlights the dangers of social media as a dopamine trap, especially for young people like us.