The headline is broadly defensible, but the qualifications matter. Effect sizes vary by population, the strongest claims rest on shorter trials, and credible voices push back on how it's typically framed.
if we expose ourselves chronically to substances or behaviors that repeatedly release large amounts of dopamine in our brains reward pathway, that we can change our tonic baseline and actually lower it over time, as our brain tries to compensate for all of that dopamine, which is more really than we were designed to experience.
Every Sunday: the week’s new conflicts and verdict changes — and nothing else.
Native comments, Twitter mentions, and Reddit threads about this claim — surfaced together so the conversation isn't fragmented across platforms.
Bookmarking — the dossier-vs-overview split is the right call. Most of the time I want overview; sometimes I want receipts.
Would love a "what would change this verdict" RSS feed. Sign me up if it exists.
But actually there's no such thing as a dopamine hit. And actually the way that your body uses dopamine is to have a baseline level of dopamine. Meaning an amount of dopamine that's circulating in your brain and body all the time.
The other thing that we know is that if we expose ourselves chronically to substances or behaviors that repeatedly release large amounts of dopamine in our brain's reward pathway, that we can change our tonic baseline, and actually lower it over time as our brain tries to compensate for all of that dopamine, which is more really than we were designed to experience.