Editor’s Note: I often spend a lot of time on something that doesn’t really make people happy, but I just can’t stop. What is going on? In the spirit of [devoting oneself to science], the author made a deep (residual) analysis of her activities yesterday.
Yesterday’s diary was like this:
Temptation: Spend a lot of time watching American TV shows. Reward promises to feel to the brain: Expectation and fascination with the progress of the plot, the relaxation of temporarily escaping from the academic pressure in reality. The feeling of reward commitment to the body: Relax, put in, enjoy. After allowing yourself to accept temptation: After the latest episode, Compared with expectations, The promise of rewards has not disappeared, But I ordered the next episode, Until you have seen all the updated five episodes, Just feel satisfied, However, the time has reached five o’clock in the afternoon… the feeling at this time: The happiness curve fell to a trough, Satisfaction has been replaced by anxiety and remorse over the upcoming paper report tomorrow, as well as disappointment with myself. Conclusion: Although I feel good when watching the play, it cannot meet my long-term goals (academic gains), so I will feel bad after watching it, and the promise of the reward system is not completely solid.
Do you feel a little strange, why do I keep a diary like this? Because of dopamine; Is this about dopamine what? Let me tell you some stories about [the mouse died] first.
An unexpected error in the experiment
In 1953, a strange mouse attracted the interest of two scientists from McGill University.
An electrode has been implanted in its brain, and the implanted area will make the mouse respond in fear.
Under normal circumstances, mice should avoid electric shocks. However, the mouse kept returning to the place where it had been shocked in its cage and seemed to enjoy the process.
The two scientists could not understand such behavior, so they further verified that electric shock was used as a reward to control the mice to move in a specific direction. Indeed, the mice became like puppets and were completely addicted to the stimulation of electric shock.
It turns out that one of the scientists made a mistake in the process of implanting the electrode and inadvertently implanted the electrode into an unknown functional area of the mouse brain. By accident, they found the brain’s [pleasure center].
However, things are not over yet.
Pleasure is more important than eating?
You know, scientists are sometimes so tired and tired that the two want to continue to study how much pleasure stimulating this area will bring to mice.
First, the poor mouse was fasted for 24 hours, then placed in the middle of a short tube with food at both ends. Food must be a great temptation to the mouse, but when the mouse decided to rush to one of the foods, the ruthless scientist gave it an electric shock.
So it stayed where it was, motionless, quietly waiting for another shock that might occur next. Compared with the pleasure brought by electric shock, the food on both sides is unattractive.
Then-this is not over yet-they continued to place a lever in the cage. When the lever is pressed, the mouse’s [pleasure center] will be shocked.
Once the mouse discovered the magical effect of the lever, it shocked itself every 5 seconds and continued to press the lever until it died of exhaustion.
Even if suffering, also want to cool!
The [ultimate version] of the mouse experiment is that two scientists put two self-stimulating levers at both ends of a power grid. After receiving an electric shock from one lever, the mouse must cross the power grid that brings severe pain and press the other lever to obtain the next electric shock.
Obviously, the mouse believes that if self-torture can stimulate [pleasure center], it is willing to endure such torture.
Therefore, it was happy to run around the power grid until its claws were scorched and it was too painful to continue running until it died of exhaustion again.
May I ask, in addition to the feeling of [bliss], is there any what reason that can drive such behavior?
Human beings? That’s all
After the mouse experiment was over, the scientists turned their eyes to the stupid (stupid) and understanding (stupid) human beings.
I have to add here that the experiments to be discussed below can no longer be replicated under modern ethical norms. However, in the 1960s, various such strange things happened in psychology laboratories.
Those advanced experiments are undoubtedly challenges to human ethics and morality. But objectively speaking, they do promote the great development of psychology.
A scientist at Tulane University implanted electrodes into the brains of human [mice] and gave them a control box, which allowed them to stimulate their [pleasure centers].
Their performance is exactly the same as that of mice.
- If they can choose the frequency of stimulation, they will shock themselves 40 times per minute on average. Faced with the food provided by researchers, even if they are hungry, they are unwilling to stop electric shock. When told that the experiment was over, one of the subjects lodged a strong protest, while the other subjects still pressed more than 200 buttons after the current was cut off.
Different from mice, human subjects can express their feelings during self-stimulation.
Although electric shocks make them feel good, their worries about cutting off the current are also mixed in the continuous process of self-stimulation.
This shows that besides real pleasure and satisfaction, there are other things behind this behavior.
A fascinating reward system
It took many years for the scientific community to have a deeper understanding of this brain region-the so-called “pleasure center” is actually what modern neuroscientists describe as the “reward system”.
When the brain discovers the opportunity to [get rewards], it releases a neurotransmitter, Dopamine.
A large amount of dopamine does not produce happiness, but rather a feeling of [being stimulated].
Neuroscientists have given many names to the effect of dopamine release-search, desire, hope, desire, but not the feeling of excitement, love, satisfaction, happiness or real reward.
If the dopamine system in the brain of mice is removed, they still like to eat sugar, but they will not make efforts for sugar.
In 2001, neuroscientists at Stanford University published a decisive experimental report. They found that dopamine makes people expect rewards, but it cannot make people feel happy when they get rewards.
When [expecting rewards], the brain will also react. However, the brain’s reaction at this time is different from that when it really gets rewards.
In the study, subjects were asked to see a symbol on the screen and expect to win money while pressing a button to get a reward.
- As soon as this symbol appears, the brain will release dopamine. [Reward System] Reaction, Urging Subjects to Press Buttons; However, when the subjects really won the money, this brain region of the [reward system] quieted down and the other region became active. It turned out that it generated the pleasure of winning the money.
This proves that when the reward system is activated by dopamine, they feel [expectation] and are controlled by [action], not [happiness].
When dopamine is secreted in large quantities, the object of human [expectation] will become [crucial], because dopamine [hijacks] all human attention, and the brain will try its best to think about how to make [expectation] really come true.
Does the reward system use what?
From an evolutionary point of view, this incentive system of the brain can ensure that human beings will not starve to death because they are unwilling to collect berries or are lazy to spend energy to attract potential partners, resulting in human extinction.
In this way, through dopamine, the brain relies on its commitment to [happiness] to keep human beings busy for their livelihood, hunting and courtship, instead of making people feel happy directly.
However, in modern society, we are likely to become slaves of dopamine if we are not vigilant, have excess materials, have fun in time and have a primitive reward system.
When dopamine gives our brains the task of [looking for rewards], we show our most adventurous, impulsive and out-of-control side.
If the reward does not come late, the [promise] of the reward and the growing [anxiety] of stopping will make us addicted.
Food, sex, alcohol, gambling, games, all of which are not the same.
Closer to our life, microblogs, circles of friends and Taobao are all modern versions of [brain stimulation electrodes].
We kept clicking on the refresh button, clicking on the link, checking our mobile phone and iPad like obsessive-compulsive disorder, and we clicked on the mouse, just like the mouse in the cage wanted to feel another electric shock, searching for the elusive [reward] until we finally felt [satisfied].
Pressure from Reward System
The role of dopamine in evolution is beyond doubt, but in modern life, its [dark side] is also everywhere.
The promise of reward brings us almost equal pressure and happiness.
Desire does not always make people feel good. Sometimes, we feel [depraved]. Because the primary function of dopamine is to make people [pursue happiness], not to make people [feel happy].
Even McGill’s two scientists misunderstood the mouse that electrocuted itself to death and thought it was very happy.
Most of the time, we mistakenly think that satisfying our desires can bring happiness, so we try every means to get new shoes, new partners, new jobs, etc.
However, those things do not really bring us happiness.
So we keep consuming things that will not bring satisfaction but will only bring more pain. You know, the brain will not release [stop] signals!
How to stop the painful pursuit?
The answer is: when you realize and notice that the promise of reward is just an illusion, the [spell] can be solved.
Wrong reward promises are not the source of happiness, but the source of pain.
What exactly should I do?
If the brain is constantly forced to expect happiness and satisfaction, end the reward of pain and pressure, and truly feel the pain to the reality, then the brain will eventually adjust its expectations.
We need to learn to distinguish between real rewards that make our lives meaningful and false [rewards] that make us distracted and addicted, so as to gain self-control. This is a difficult challenge, but it will benefit people greatly.
Let’s try to start with a simple life experiment.
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Find a temptation factor that often makes you indulge yourself (such as eating snacks, shopping and chopping hands, chasing dramas, brushing social media, wasting time online, etc.). Among them, the reason why you are tempted by it is because your brain tells you that it will bring happiness.
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Pay attention to the feeling that this [promise of reward] brings to you, is it expectation or hope?
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For [the promise of reward], your body feels what? Is it excitement or anxiety? Relaxed or nervous?
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After allowing yourself to accept temptation, how does this compare with your expectation? Has the promise of reward disappeared? Does it still encourage you to eat more, spend more and stay longer? Will you be satisfied when you are in what? Have you reached a level where you cannot continue, such as because you are too full, too tired, too depressed, too busy, or unable to get [rewards]?
People who do this exercise usually have two results.
- Some people will find that when they really pay attention to the feeling of indulgence, they actually don’t need as many things as they imagine. Others found that this experience could not satisfy them at all.
This exposes the difference between [promise of reward] and [actual experience].
Both kinds of observation experience will make people have stronger self-control over things that were once beyond their control.