The so-called dopamine problem. Getting hooked on smartphones, YouTube, and games is seen as a problem. We call these activities "cheap dopamine." Cheap dopamine is considered a problem because it drags down our productivity.
The popular answers to this problem seem to be "choose pain" and "hack your dopamine." The idea is to do a digital detox, take cold showers to boost dopamine release, or swap a smartphone addiction for a book addiction.
But I don't think these methods are a fundamental solution. If they worked, they would have spread through the exam-prep world first, and cold showers would have been used to treat drug addiction. They might work for a day or two, but I don't think they're sustainable. They're hollow methods.
I think the real cause of what we call the dopamine problem is a lack of cultural capital. So the true answer is to build more cultural capital. In this post, I'll offer a somewhat different perspective on the dopamine problem. I hope this strategy helps improve your productivity.
It's Not a Problem with Dopamine Itself
The first thing to consider is that dopamine-related problems aren't problems with dopamine itself. The neurotransmitter isn't the issue. If too much or too little dopamine were the problem, you could simply see a psychiatrist and take medication. There are drugs that lower dopamine and drugs that raise it. There's no need to bother with cold showers. I think motivational messaging is causing a social problem by keeping people who should be going to a doctor from going. The cause of the cheap dopamine problem lies less in dopamine itself than in the fact that "I enjoy myself while doing unproductive things."
There Is No "Dopamine Hack" That Makes Boring Things Fun
So people try to turn productive activities, or obligatory tasks, into sources of enjoyment in place of unproductive ones. That's the so-called dopamine hack. But you can't turn something boring into a hobby. If such a method existed, it would have spread through the exam-prep world first, and top students' actual study time would have hit 18 hours. Finding productive work fun belongs to the realm of turning your passion into your career. And that is a real blessing. After all, they say you can't beat someone who enjoys what they do.
In all kinds of self-help, various skills appear that promise to make boring tasks at least a little enjoyable. Gamification, or writing a to-do list and getting a sense of achievement by knocking items off it. It's all nonsense. No matter how you dress it up, boring is boring. If the movie itself is boring, what good does it do to make the screen border flash or to make the seats more comfortable? I'll say it again: if such a method existed, it would have spread through the exam-prep world first.
Making a boring task feel fun would take a lot of environmental support. You'd need people who give you feedback and cheer you on when you do the boring activity. Maybe you'd even need a rival right in front of you. This isn't a problem you can solve by changing your personal mindset; it's one you solve by throwing money at it. Most people aren't in a position to build such an environment.
Some people are stuck with piles of boring obligations they have to do. They have no choice but to use the self-help methods that are already everywhere, like putting the phone away or just trying to focus for five minutes.
"Deliberately Choose Pain!" Is Unsustainable
Then there's the message to deliberately choose pain. This is an empty claim that isn't even worth discussing. In decision-making, you can choose the more painful option. But I think very few people can actually choose the more painful action. A Navy SEAL might manage it. (As I said before,) if the method of deliberately choosing pain worked, every exam candidate would have hit 18 hours of actual study time.
I think messages like cold showers are just Miracle Morning 2.0. They say that a cold shower makes you realize life is suffering, boosts dopamine release, and has plenty of other good effects. But if it really worked, the US government would have adopted it first. Here's what I mean: the ultimate dopamine problem is drug addiction. If a simple cold shower were that effective, the US government would have kidnapped fentanyl addicts and forced them to do the Ice Bucket Challenge. (Just kidding.)
I took quite a few cold showers myself. After the gym, a cold shower in the locker room does give you a sense of exhilaration. "Life is pain!" you think, and something seems to boil up inside you. But that's only in the moment. I never felt that it increased my productivity. All I got was dry skin and a cold.
This is separate from the dopamine issue, but you should ask whether the messages you encounter exist just to rack up likes or to genuinely deliver results. The simpler a message is and the easier it looks to follow, the less likely it is to be effective. If such a good method existed, everyone would already be doing it. Or it would have been adopted in medicine or the exam-prep world, where the stakes are more desperate and more money changes hands.
For Many People, YouTube and Shorts Are the Only Hobby
In the US, obesity rates are said to be higher among low-income people than among high-income people. The reason is said to be that low-income people eat cheap junk food that is inexpensive and easy to get. Obesity is a health problem, but its causes actually lie in culture and economics. In the same way, a phenomenon and its cause can sit in different domains. For these people, rather than the approach of "Don't eat junk food!", you'd need to increase awareness and consumption of healthy food that isn't junk. The dopamine problem we're discussing now is the same.
Cheap dopamine is likely to become the only hobby of modern people. It's easy to access, and above all, people are too busy to enjoy other hobbies. It doesn't cost money either. It's the same reason as the junk food above. If people stopped watching Shorts or YouTube videos, how many would have another hobby to enjoy in that time? Honestly, almost none. Study or work? That's not a hobby. As I said earlier, there's no such thing as a dopamine hack. For most people, the hobbies they can get absorbed in are YouTube, Shorts, and games. They have no hobbies beyond those.
I rarely watch Shorts. I also make YouTube content, but apart from when I need to, I hardly watch videos either. The reason is that reading and thinking are more fun for me. Writing those thoughts down in my Zettelkasten is fun too. Coming up with a different perspective and thinking about how to sell it to people is even more fun. I also like it when people are surprised or react with support. Of course, I could enjoy Shorts and YouTube videos too. It's just that this is more fun. Because I do a variety of activities, cultural capital has built up, and that's why I don't do those other things. If you like Korean food, there's no need to eat at McDonald's, is there?
You can't deliberately live like a monk. A digital detox will probably last three days at most. So the cheap dopamine problem has to be solved by aggressively finding alternatives rather than by avoidance. For most people, the problem is that they have no hobby or area of interest. So the right question to ask isn't "How do I stop doing unproductive things?" but "What topics or activities would I enjoy?" It's a hard question. You can only answer it once you've accumulated a range of experiences, along with cultural capital and an understanding of yourself.