[onlooker]

I make this post because I find this topic fascinating. If you look at some countries especially the more wealthy ones, I think one sees this pattern of more and more people developing certain addictive habits or addictions. Of course they're are the obvious addictions to drugs and alcohol but also more subtle ones like to Porn, gambling, eating, adrenaline highs, TV, video games and Internet. I say this because from hearing over time about this subject, I think it is useful to observe this pattern within the context of the general milieu that people in these countries live. A world that is de-personalized, individualized, challenging, stressful, unfulfilling etc. In the midst of all this I think it is natural that we humans seek out fast immediate gratification/pleasure. We are hardwired to seek out pleasure anyway but within the context outlined above, pleasure becomes addictive as all of these outlets mentioned above can supply us with some immediate pleasure or gratification and this is a counter to stress or depression at least in a superficial and temporary manner. But in the long run all this is not about deep fulfillment just a temporary fix like an addict who then needs more and more. Maybe that is why I having been a city dweller seek out peace whenever I can find it and nature is a nice milieu for peaceful periods. Also, these addictions may reinforce each other so that a person becomes a slave to these addictions. Thoughts?

[SeaGypsy]

Yes, all that. I recently quit cannabis, tobacco & alcohol all at the same time. Have done this before many times, but this time has to be pretty much permanent, given I'm 50 next year, the risks go exponential & I have 2 kids 5 & 6 years old I need to be around & in good shape for. Internet is currently my only qualifying vice. I eat extremely healthy & have the body of a fit 35 year old, I work in a job with minimal head stress & substantial physical load, moving tons of stuff on pallets into & out of a large truck. I do a bit of woodwork, renovations on old homes, which is better paid but irregular- also quite physical & varied.

My project for this year is related to your post. I'm very into meditation & yoga, fascinated with water, waterways, the healing & nurturing they bring & sustain. I'm planning to build very light & portable boats, kind of like some 'oar campers' to access the waterways around the city I am living on the outskirts of, in order to present yoga- meditation options with a difference. As much as the addiction issues you mention are prevalent, they are also deeply unsatisfying. People are seeking ways out of these shallow obsessive behaviours. Many of us are financially trapped in cities with minimal access to private natural space. We are jaded with the oh so fallible mainstream religions, both orthodox & material. It is an interesting time.

I notice my kids who are both very advanced with technology, have very little interest in it. Both mastered smart phones & iPads by their 5th birthdays, but a year later they never pick them up except to show granny a photo or some art they did. They would rather go bike riding or canoeing, camping in the mountains. This contributes to my current understanding, that it is the novelty of things, drugs, associations, technology, which attracts us, then the brain chemistry takes over & that is where addiction kicks in. Of course this is a huge topic not easily pigeon holed.

[onlooker]

Thanks for that reply Sea. I do applaud you for being a person who seems to channel excess energy into doing worthwhile activities and jobs. Fulfillment is a good word because I think it describes the sense and feelings one has when one is doing or thinking something that returns positive feedback or connotations. An active lifestyle is good per say and so is one devoted to edifying oneself. I think Sea what my post is getting at is to channel pursuits to something that brings a deep satisfaction or sense of accomplishment/fulfillment rather than simply temporary stimulus in which one does not attain real satisfaction and fulfillment but a rush that subsides and then one begins to develop the need for more as you mentioned the brain chemistry takes over and in turn can lead one astray. Wishing you the best in all your endeavors Sea.

[Ibon]

The most insidious example for me is how digital media and personal mobile devices has altered the nervous systems of the emerging generation. You can watch this real time..... the minute there is any kind of down time young people will instantly go into cyber space to satiate and stimulate. This creates a culture that no longer understands the virtue of boredom and the creative energy that can be released when you sit in emptiness. The nervous system actually becomes addicted and habituated to the instant gratification possible through their mobile devices. You put a young person thus addicted into the forest to see flora and fauna and they become instantly bored if the jaguar or quetzal don't instantly appear. The only activity that stimulates is zip-lining through the forest seeing nothing. This zip lining mirrors the digital cyber experience and has no depth, no contact, no cultivation of the hunter gatherer patient skills that we evolved with.

Mobile digital devices are far worse than heroin. In fact heroin would probably be therapeutic at this point.

[onlooker]

Good point Ibon, I would add that these devices along with TV do not encourage reflective deep thought cultivation as you said, "no depth". What is very interesting considering the interplay of people addicted and actual changes in brain function and chemistry is how this may actually be changing the brain structure and processes. I do not know if studies have been done to ascertain to what degree perhaps permanent changes are being effected and maybe carried on genetically. I mention this because TV has been around quite some time and would afford the parameters/features for a study thus to ascertain all this. But in more practical terms we are creating to some degree people with very short attention spans, in some cases mentally deficient, people exercising very little and gaining weight and people ultimately not very happy. That is my thoughts on all this.

[Timo]

How's Reinaldo doing with his cell phone?

I completely get what you're talking about. The book 7th Gen describes this phenomena as the MTV reflex. It all starts with "educational" children's television programming, shows like Sesame Street, where each feature within each episode lasts only for 15 or 20 seconds. This manifests within us as an indoctrinated short attention span. Then, we graduate to different forms of entertainment. When we're eleventeen, or there abouts, we switch our interest from Big Bird to Miley Cyrus, or to Justin Bieber, or Yesterdays Garbage Superstars, and each music video lasts only for 3 minutes. That's a pretty big increase from 20 seconds, but that new time period becomes the new norm for the length of our attention spans. Give us a cell phone with access to the internet, to texting, to email, to the rest of the world, with our preset inability to focus on anything for any meaningful length of time, and we're all now addicted to products that constantly provide distractions from everything around us. In short, we're addicted to distractions. Our minds are incapable of focusing on anything for any length of time.

I find what people like Ibon and SeaGypsy are doing to be incredibly reinforcing to the human spirit. I've recently begun reading the Dalai Lama, and actually have begun attempting to learn the art, or the practice, of meditation. Slow progress, mostly because of the environment that surrounds me. Case in point, I started writing this post over 30 minutes ago, but my wife, her mother, and her sisters are here in the same room, all talking about all kinds of stuff, and we're getting into political arguments about the Presidential election, and PACS, and Chinese suppression of personal freedoms to the reinstitution of debtors prisons here in the US, to the punch in the face if you dare protest at a Trump rally, and yada-yada...............I'm incapable of escaping from this bullshit.

What was the point I was trying to make again?

[Ibon]

How's Reinaldo doing with his cell phone?

Between guiding guests he is on Whatsup with his friends.......

Nice ramble Timo....

[KaiserJeep]

The only thing I am questioning is the term "dysfunctional world". How is the world dysfunctional, when we are feeding/housing/birthing more humans, food animals, and food crops than ever before, burning more fossil fuels (literally making the nightside of the Earth glow into space), bringing more land under cultivation, pumping more water, clear cutting more forests, "harvesting" more fish from the oceans, etc.etc.etc.

Not so long ago, all these things were celebrated as successes, furthering the "domination" of the natural world by mankind. It seems to me, the only thing that changed is the attitudes of a small minority of humans.

[onlooker]

Kaiser, dysfunctional in a social/psychological sense. In accord with my original post. True we have become excellent exploiters of Mother Earth. Oh and this exploitation has become in itself dysfunctional. Dominating the natural world is an expression which captures this dysfunction. We should live in harmony with the natural world just like with each other but we do not. We seek domination. That is a dysfunction as evidenced by the severe natural limits we are reaching. You know the more we explore all these issues, it seems to be the more we arrive at the conclusion that we humans have reached this impasse because of the dysfunctions within our psyche. We have forsaken future generations to attain this lofty perch we sit on at this point in time. Perhaps the whole species became addicted to our own myths of the inevitability of human progress and power and that has been instrumental in the dead end we are reaching.

[Ibon]

Dominating the natural world is an expression which captures this dysfunction. We should live in harmony with the natural world just like with each other but we do not. We seek domination.

Humans are very poor at domination. Well managed domination could sustain a stable population and still preserve bio-diversity. We are actually horrible at domination, we haven't been able to sustain our dominant position for more than a couple generations without bringing ourselves and ecosystems into peril.

Good at domination? I would say dolphins, elephants, jaguars, polar bears, Sequoia trees.

Humans? Just awful at domination.....

The poorest dominator in the history of life on the planet probably.

More seriously, the pregnant question would be, Can modern humans reach an equilibrium as a dominant keystone species on the planet without soiling their nest and collapsing in die-off? Is equilibrium possible?

What would it take?

[onlooker]

Ibon, interesting your interpretation of the word domination. However, the animals you cite are they not more an example of animals living in harmony with their environment than dominating it? Is not the magnificence of nature evinced by the fact that animals and plants live in harmony and equilibrium in a well functioning ecosystem. I guess, my interpretation of the word dominate is a little different as I denote that word with more negativity. I see humans as believing we can "dominate", exploit, abuse the natural world. Thus not living in harmony or equilibrium with the natural world in the same way that an animal who was a top predator may overrun the ability of the ecosystem and other animals to control its population. The reindeers of st matthew's Island may be an example, nothing within their ecosystem was able to control their expansion and "domination" of their area. They thus overgrew the ability of their ecosystem to sustain them. Answering your last question modern man has lost the chance to live in equilibrium with his surroundings. We will face overshoot consequences which you see as having the possibility of bringing about a condition whereby the remaining humans will live in a state of equilibrium and NOT domination of their surroundings

[Ibon]

I am playing a little with the term as it helps to bring into focus our failure in the role of being a dominant keystone species.

Back to your OP..... Addiction comes when you are not comfortable in your own skin.

Can this apply to a species as a whole along with an individual?

Is addiction so prevalent because we do have a collective sense as a species that we are deep into dysfunctional territory? Escaping into addiction is tempting when as a species we are backing ourselves into a corner.

Many here make the statement that most of the world is blind to our peril. I sometimes wonder about that. I think addictive behavior maybe partially explained because we know but do not want to face our collective peril. Or not?

[onlooker]

Causes of addiction are complex and multiple reasons push people in that direction. I do though agree Ibon that more and more people are realizing that our collective path is unsustainable. I see it when I am on Facebook. I think this is coloring the attitude and demeanor of people worldwide. Some are probably despairing and perhaps seeking pleasurable outlets to escape this disquieting realization. It really boils down to the nitty gritty of confronting our mortality. Some can deal with this reality others have a hard time with it. I am not sure though if many are so overly concerned with the extinction of the human species in the same way that many have not been concerned with the species that have gone extinct already due to our immense disruptive footprint on this Earth. Oh and hope all is going well over at Mount Totumas Cloud Forest Ibon.

[Timo]

How's Reinaldo doing with his cell phone?

Between guiding guests he is on Whatsup with his friends.......

Nice ramble Timo....

Well, we've all heard that infamous song from the rock band ADHD, "I'm on a highway to Hey! Look at that squirrel!"

[DesuMaiden]

The most insidious example for me is how digital media and personal mobile devices has altered the nervous systems of the emerging generation. You can watch this real time..... the minute there is any kind of down time young people will instantly go into cyber space to satiate and stimulate. This creates a culture that no longer understands the virtue of boredom and the creative energy that can be released when you sit in emptiness. The nervous system actually becomes addicted and habituated to the instant gratification possible through their mobile devices. You put a young person thus addicted into the forest to see flora and fauna and they become instantly bored if the jaguar or quetzal don't instantly appear. The only activity that stimulates is zip-lining through the forest seeing nothing. This zip lining mirrors the digital cyber experience and has no depth, no contact, no cultivation of the hunter gatherer patient skills that we evolved with.

Mobile digital devices are far worse than heroin. In fact heroin would probably be therapeutic at this point.

This is why it is important to limit the amount of time and exposure a person receives from the Internet. Many people, these days, suffer from sensory overload because they spend too much time on the Internet absorbing in too much information into their brains. These people need to figure out how they can waste less time online, and productively spend more time offline.

Your observations are very keen, by the way. I think it is possible to alleviate Internet addiction if you receive the right treatments.

[davep]

IMO society is dysfunctional due to all success indicators (and the economy) being monetary-based, whereas human happiness tends to be predicated on having fulfilling relationships (beyond the requirements for suitable sustenance).

It's no doubt one of many reasons, but I think it's an important factor.

[Plantagenet]

A big reason for the rise in addiction to oppiates is that doctors are writing more prescriptions for opiate painkillers for their patients---and then the patients get hooked.

And why are doctors writing so many prescriptions for opiate painkillers these days? One reason is that federal rules and policies enacted with the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) encourage and financially reward doctors for writing more prescriptions for opiate painkillers.

how-obamacare-is-fueling-americas-opioid-epidemic

As part of an Obama­care initiative meant to reward quality care, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is allocating some $1.5 billion in Medicare payments to hospitals based on criteria that include patient-­satisfaction surveys. Among the questions: “During this hospital stay, how often did the hospital staff do everything they could to help you with your pain?” And: “How often was your pain well controlled?”

To many physicians and lawmakers struggling to contain the nation’s opioid crisis, tying a patient’s feelings about pain management to a hospital’s bottom line is deeply ­misguided––if not downright dangerous. “The government is telling us we need to make sure a patient’s pain is under control,” says Dr. Nick Sawyer, a health-­policy fellow at the UC Davis department of emergency medicine. “It’s hard to make them happy without a narcotic. This policy is leading to ongoing opioid abuse.”

Cheers!

[slackercruster]

OP,,,right on target. Well spoken post!

[ennui2]

And...we all know what Planty's addicted to (bashing Obama).

[onlooker]

Thanks alot Plant for highlighting this opiate-painkiller epidemic. It deserves its own post in the Medical issues forum.