Why do we Addicted to things that Hinder our Survival?

[SQAAD]

From the things i know, the brain produces dopamine when we engage in things that are good for survival. Dopamine helps us remember also. If i have sex, more dopamine will be produced than eating food.

If i am eating an ice-cream more dopamine will be produced than eating celery because ice-cream has more calories and is better for survival in that sense. But this mechanism has tons of weaknesses. It was a good mechanism 10.000 years ago but now it has been hacked.

If i were to smoke crystal meth (i haven't) my brain would think that crystal meth is more important than sex and food for survival. Because it produces 1000% more dopamine than sex. 

It is like the brain is dumb. And gets tricked. It only understands dopamine and other chemicals. Clearly meth is not gonna help you survive better. Yet our brain have been fooled it will.

If anyone is more knowledgable about this topic i would like to learn more. This has puzzled me for years. It's a very disturbing thing that our brain work this way. I guess all systems have their limitations and weaknesses...... Nothing is perfect. This mechanism, this loop ruins millions of lives every year. It's so powerful that is frightening...... It is so powerful that it's not even funny. 

 

 

Edited September 20, 2021 by SQAAD

[mandyjw]

1 hour ago, SQAAD said:

It is like the brain is dumb. And gets tricked. It only understands dopamine and other chemicals. Clearly meth is not gonna help you survive better. Yet our brain have been fooled it will.

If anyone is more knowledgable about this topic i would like to learn more. This has puzzled me for years. It's a very disturbing thing that our brain work this way. I guess all systems have their limitations and weaknesses...... Nothing is perfect. This mechanism, this loop ruins millions of lives every year. It's so powerful that is frightening...... It is so powerful that it's not even funny. 

Survival is a thought. The brain is a thought. Tricky, right? Watch and question the thought you're thinking in the moment, rather than believing in the entire structure, therefore taking the thought that the entire structure is legit, and the truth of the whole reveals itself. 

The survival of the belief, is dependent upon the belief that the self is what's surviving, not the belief.   Funny, right? 

THAT'S the survival to concern yourself with. 

Edited September 20, 2021 by mandyjw

[SQAAD]

@mandyjw

44 minutes ago, mandyjw said:

Survival is a thought. The brain is a thought. Tricky, right? Watch and question the thought you're thinking in the moment, rather than believing in the entire structure, therefore taking the thought that the entire structure is legit, and the truth of the whole reveals itself. 

The survival of the belief, is dependent upon the belief that the self is what's surviving, not the belief.   Funny, right? 

THAT'S the survival to concern yourself with. 

I disagree. Survival is not just a thought. It is a fact of existence.

Edited September 20, 2021 by SQAAD

[mandyjw]

11 minutes ago, SQAAD said:

@mandyjw

I disagree. Survival is not just a thought. It is a fact of existence.

Sounds exhausting. Good luck with that. 

[vizual]

It comes down to a lack of consciousness, it's that simple really. Deep down; junkies know that what they are doing is wrong and won't make them happy or fulfilled. Addiction can be healed through awareness and consciousness when junkies have the proper guidance. Counseling can help them gain consciousness. Along with some structure and a support system in their lives.

The experience as the human as a meat puppet is a low conscious experience. The animalistic part of us gets addicted to substances. But the divine part of us will always know that addiction is hurting us. Through consciousness we can get more in touch with our divine nature and put the animalistic part in a more holistic light. It prevents the animal from running wild. It eats when it needs to, sleeps when it needs to. No excesses and no lack.

[ZenSwift]

Our human/ape biology is outdated. This is exactly the struggle we as a species have to overcome to become more conscious. The collective has yet to feel the full impact of this slavery to quick hits of dopamine. 

 

Knowing what's going on is winning half the battle. Then designing your environment and life comes next. 

 

I'm actually writing my first book on this very topic, in regards to how to deal with it. 

 

Basically, do this:

Design your life in such a way that you can't get any unearned dopamine. 

Such that you're only left with the majority of your possible actions for dopamine are doing high consciousness stuff like enlightenment work, contemplation, Life Purpose practice routines, reading, learning, exercise, etc. 

Easier said than done, lots of creativity is involved for a solution that fits you personally. But the authentic happiness that awaits you on the other side is worth it. 

[HypnoticMagician]

The reason we are addicted to things that hinder our survival is because your brain doesn't care if something helps you thrive apart from more sub parts of your brain which are both automatic and vital.  Upper parts of your brain processes whatever you program it with. Worse than that is that it is even subconsciously ingrained and made quite permanent if iterated enough. Addictions may occur due to initially conscious reinforcing of a lot of wrong connections that do not serve any purpose provided it is also intensified with more dopamin association with that specific stimulation or topic. Unfortunately, there is no a short cut around this problem. You can't solve this problem with a one-fits-all drug or even more specific drugs targeting only large or medium-sized regions of your brain which is too general. There is also no an easy surgical solution for it. The only way to get rid of this kind of handicaps is weakening these connections first and severing all of these one by one through different meditation methods. Do yourself a favor and take time meditate on regular basis. To weaken those connections, you need to do non-reactive meditation. When it comes to fully severing those connections, silence/concentration meditation is your best friend Hope this helps.

[SQAAD]

@ZenSwift

22 hours ago, ZenSwift said:

 

Basically, do this:

Design your life in such a way that you can't get any unearned dopamine. 

Such that you're only left with the majority of your possible actions for dopamine are doing high consciousness stuff like enlightenment work, contemplation, Life Purpose practice routines, reading, learning, exercise, etc. 

Easier said than done, lots of creativity is involved for a solution that fits you personally. But the authentic happiness that awaits you on the other side is worth it. 

That's solid advice. I agree.

[InterruptReQuest]

According to what I've read, the reason we get addicted to things is because we are trying to distract ourselves from our unsolved problems. It makes us feel better for a while. We often avoid our unsolved problems because we don't know how to resolve them. Most people don't, because this is something we are not taught. 

[ZenSwift]

On 9/27/2021 at 1:30 AM, HypnoticMagician said:

To weaken those connections, you need to do non-reactive meditation. When it comes to fully severing those connections, silence/concentration meditation is your best friend

@HypnoticMagician

Could you elaborate more on "non-reactive meditation" and "silence/concentration meditation"?

I would like to employ a practice routine to seriously sever my dopamine connections to certain things.