Dopamine Quotes

“The exaggerated dopamine sensitivity of the introvert leads one to believe that when in public, introverts, regardless of its validity, often feel to be the center of (unwanted) attention hence rarely craving attention. Extroverts, on the other hand, seem to never get enough attention. So on the flip side it seems as though the introvert is in a sense very external and the extrovert is in a sense very internal - the introvert constantly feels too much 'outerness' while the extrovert doesn't feel enough 'outerness'.”
― Criss Jami, Killosophy

“If we were designed by engineers, as we consumed more, we’d desire less. But our frequent human tragedy is that the more we consume, the hungrier we get. More and faster and stronger.”
― Robert M. Sapolsky, Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst

“…we use the dopaminergic power of the happiness of pursuit to motivate us to work for rewards that come -after we are dead- depending on your culture, this can be knowing that your nation is closer to winning a war because you’ve sacrificed yourself in battle, that your kids will inherit money because of your financial sacrifices, or that you will spend eternity in paradise. It is extraordinary neural circuitry that bucks temporal discounting enough to allow (some of) us to care about the temperature of the planet that our great-grandchildren will inherit. Basically, it’s unknown how we humans do this. We may merely be a type of animal, mammal, primate, and ape, but we’re a profoundly unique one.”
― Robert M. Sapolsky, Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst

“Often we’re more about the anticipation and pursuit of pleasure than about the experience of it.”
― Robert M. Sapolsky, Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst

“The bonus cookies in the grocery basket could be considered -irrational- as they require extra cost and effort to purchase and do not align with goals for a balanced diet, yet eating the cookies will generate a positive reward.”
― Leighann R. Chaffee, A Guide to the Psychology of Eating

“Nowadays the usage of phones is so commonplace that to even question the teeny-tiny hit of vacuous, underserved and slow-dripped dopamine people get from their mindless, self-orientated filters and status updates is to mark yourself an out of the times philistine and backward threat to the groupthink mentality.”
― G.C. McKay, Chameleon

“The dopamine, the deceitful dopamine, gives them a false sense of value.”
― Soroosh Shahrivar, Tajrish

“If you are low status ten (...) Money will make you liable to the dangerous temptations of drugs and alcohol, which are much more rewarding if you have been deprived of pleasure for a long period.”
― Jordan B. Peterson, 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos

“The music I was listening to on that particular day outside Small World triggered me and I got this insane influx of what I guess was dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and other neurochemicals that just made me feel so good. I think we call it fandom, and it’s a very addictive drug once you get it in the bloodstream.”
― Pete Trainor, Electrasy: Calling All The Dreamers

“Our body certainly learns from the signals associated with energy balance to adjust behavior: we respond to interoceptive cues to initiate eating when hungry, and food deprivation clearly increases food-seeking behavior in animals.”
― Leighann R. Chaffee, A Guide to the Psychology of Eating

“Humans have more dopamine receptors than any other animal by brain weight. It provides energy, aggressiveness, and maybe even optimism. It suited the physical, experiential nature of our ancestors.”
― Steven Lesk M.D., Footprints of Schizophrenia: The Evolutionary Roots of Mental Illness

“We are no longer in that primitive state of mind. We have an expectation of survival and have conquered most of the obvious predators that plagued us day to day with our superlative contemplation skills born of language. We sit in our comfy heated houses while the snow flutters like butterflies around us and we bask in a feeling of general contentment.”
― Steven Lesk M.D., Footprints of Schizophrenia: The Evolutionary Roots of Mental Illness

“Infantilising yourself can often seem like a plea for diminished responsibility. Most of us will have encountered someone who, when criticised for behaving badly, appeals to their own vulnerability as a way of letting themselves off the hook. No matter what they do or the harm they cause, it’s never fair to criticise them, because there’s always some reason – often framed through therapy jargon or the language of social justice – why it isn’t their fault. Childishness grants them a perpetual innocence; they are constitutionally incapable of being in the wrong.

But we will never make the world better if we act like this. Thinking of yourself as a smol bean baby is a way of tapping out and expecting other people to fight on your behalf. It also makes you a more pliant consumer. Social media is awash with the idea that ‘it’s valid not to be productive’, as though productivity were the only manifestation of capitalism and streaming Disney+ all day is a form of resistance. It’s much rarer to encounter the idea that we have a responsibility about what we consume, or that satisfying our own desires whenever we want is not always a good thing: “there is no ethical consumption under capitalism” has morphed into “there is no unethical consumption under capitalism”.”
― James Greig

“Pain releases the dopamine.”
― Dr. Poison king

“Dopamine is the brain's blood sugar. It should be stable, not fluctuating for your health.”
― Serhat Beyaz KOROGLU

“Pleasure demands constant and repeated stimulation to be felt for a common mind. If it is a book, one must finish one and move on to the next; if it is music, one must listen to one and then start another. This is an endless cycle. And since the pleasure derived from such things is temporary, the only way to obtain it is to develop some form of addiction to them.”
― Sov8840

“Pleasure demands constant and repeated stimulation to be felt by the common mind. If it is a book, one must finish one and move on to the next; if it is music, one must listen to one and then start another. This is an endless cycle. And since the pleasure derived from such things is temporary, the only way to sustain it is to develop some form of addiction to them.”
― Sov8840

“...since their minds have been conditioned to seek stimulation, they can't tolerate even the slightest moment of silence and stillness. They either hum something, make melodies by hitting objects, or openly complain about “how boring” the situation is—then proceed to open “prophetical topics” to talk about at length. They desperately need something that regularly stimulates their brains in order to feel “entertained.”
― Sov8840

“Whether lying in bed, sitting, eating, on the toilet, pushing a stroller, walking the dog, shopping, walking, “listening” to others, talking, driving, crossing the street, waiting in line, brushing their teeth, watching a movie, attending a meeting, having a conversation, engaging in sexual intercourse, arguing, showering, at a funeral, in a lecture, or during a family meal—even in moments of supposed intimacy or solitude—they always have their phones in their hands. The device is there. Always there. Even in DPRK—a country they tirelessly insult, hate, and belittle for being “anti-democracy”—one would be hard-pressed to find such addicted beings populating every street, mechanically wandering about like reverse L-shapes, their “opiums” (i.e., phones) in hand.”
― Sov8840

“If there is no phone, there is noise; but if there is a phone, there is silence—just as a crying, unruly baby suddenly falls silent upon receiving the mother’s nipple.”
― Sov8840

“It’s a modern necessity to own a phone, but to be owned by the phone is a modern sickness.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Kral Fakir: When Calls The Kainat

“Evolution never promised happiness only progress. Dopamine is the compass that keeps the species moving, even when the soul wants to rest.”
― Shamail Aijaz, Dopamine: The Silent Architect of Desire, Discipline, and Meaning

“Dopamine loves the horizon, but peace begins when you learn to watch the sunset without needing to chase it.”
― Shamail Aijaz, Dopamine: The Silent Architect of Desire, Discipline, and Meaning

“Dopamine doesn’t ask what you’re chasing only how often. The wisdom is in teaching it tempo.”
― Shamail Aijaz, Dopamine: The Silent Architect of Desire, Discipline, and Meaning

“When dopamine fires too fast, joy can’t find its footing.”
― Shamail Aijaz, Dopamine: The Silent Architect of Desire, Discipline, and Meaning

“The slow pursuit doesn’t dull dopamine it teaches it grace.”
― Shamail Aijaz, Dopamine: The Silent Architect of Desire, Discipline, and Meaning

“Awareness is the breath between impulse and intention the moment dopamine becomes dialogue.”
― Shamail Aijaz, Dopamine: The Silent Architect of Desire, Discipline, and Meaning

“Certainty feels like control, but it’s just dopamine whispering, ‘Stay where it’s safe.”
― Shamail Aijaz, Dopamine: The Silent Architect of Desire, Discipline, and Meaning

“Dopamine rewards the map, not the journey until you start walking.”
― Shamail Aijaz, Dopamine: The Silent Architect of Desire, Discipline, and Meaning

“Perfectionism feels like mastery, but it’s really dopamine afraid to say goodbye.”
― Shamail Aijaz, Dopamine: The Silent Architect of Desire, Discipline, and Meaning