Marissa’s Reviews > The Meaning of Your Life: Finding Purpose in an Age of Emptiness > Status Update

The human brain produces oxytocin – sometimes called the love molecule by neuroscientists – in response to the bonding experience of eye contact and physical touch. We can’t live happily without this hormone, which is not exclusively associated with romance, but is also why you feel a sense of warmth when you’re reunited with a family member or dear friend.

This is what Socrates meant when he said, “the unexamined life is not worth living.“ In other words, a life that is not deeply questioned is bereft of meaning. The deeper the questions without easy answers – or any answers at all – the better.

What sets Homo sapiens apart from other living beings-& gives us a spark of the divine– isn’t the ability to give answers to increasingly complicated problems. It’s the willingness & capacity to wonder & inquire about things large & small that’re the essence of our uniquely human consciousness. & not surprisingly, therefore, this is the first habit of people with meaningful lives: they ask a lot of q’s

Addictions are actually a side effect of the brain's ability 2 learn things that are good for us, using a neurotransmitter—a chemical released by neurons to communicate w 1another-called dopamine. This is a chemical that makes u feel anticipation of a reward from doing something u like, as well the reward itself. The anticipation & rewards create patterns of behavior based on wanting and liking-leading to learning

Scientists define an addiction as behavior w 5 components. 1: it’s compulsive, meaning it features an overwhelming urge 2: loss of control, meaning u give in to the compulsion even if u don't want to 3: cont. use in spite of the harm it does 4: craving, which is a preoccupation w the behavior or substance 5: tolerance & withdrawal, meaning u need more & more over time (escalation) & it gets harder & harder to stop

This is our ancestral environment, and our brains were, and are, built to help us survive under these conditions. Among other ways they did so was with a little chunk of tissue in the limbic system called the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), which has one very important job: making you feel pain when separated from your people.

The meaning doom loop is a self-reinforcing cycle where people turn to addictive technologies out of boredom and emptiness, leading to even less engagement with life’s deeper questions. This exacerbates the crisis of meaning – as well as the sadness and anxiety that come from it.

Modern life pushes you into the brain’s left hemisphere – focused on solving technical, discrete problems with technology and detail obsession – while neglecting what is “numinous“ in the right hemisphere. This is where meaning, purpose, and deep human connection reside. This shift results in a sense of emptiness and boredom.