Dopamine denial

Netflix, Spotify, social media, push notifications, online approval. It seems like humanity is tumbling down headlong into an almighty dopamine crisis, leading us further and further into an inferno of brief pleasures and fatal monotony. Someone has to lead the fight against the dopamine avalanche, and we, the residents of “Vakttårnet” in Brønnerud, lead the charge unto the breach.

Journalist: Benjamin Alexander Faulkner

Photpgrapher: Åsne Sørlie-Nordnes

Contributing: Åsmund Godal Tunheim, Ole Holthusen og Josterin Fyrvik

Dopamine – our dearest dope

To secure the survival of our species, we must eat, drink, have sex. One of the ways the brain makes sure we complete these tasks is to shovel dopamine into our system. A lot of chemicals, like caffeine and cocaine, also influences the dopamine level. The reason why we experience beer goggles and say “yes please” to everything ambulating on two legs, is because alcohol increases the hormone levels in our mesolimbic system – also known as the reward system. Our love for one another rapidly increases the more blind drunk we are, and that is a wonderful thought. The problem is, that when we get this rush, we just want more of it. We are bored by moments we might previously consider pleasurable.

Denying dopamine

The hypothesis for our research is: if you actively enjoy excessive sources of dopamine rushes, the threshold for achieving a dopamine rush declines, and something boring can suddenly be much more enjoyable. Do you remember, during the worst of the covid period, when you partied like a madman just because two people came to visit? Just as the long and short chain carbohydrates, we avoid the brief pleasures and encourage the slower ones: books, thought-provoking films, good social interactions, culinary arts – entertainment that grows on you and offers some degree of substance. The Holy Grail in this pseudo-scientific exercise is to make school all the more amusing. That is, the trasencendence of our bodies and minds into an academic hyperhuman, the superior student, orgiastically celebrating the arrival of any new school task.

Detoxification

It is ironic that we, in a time where the great societal restrictions were lifted, punished ourselves with even worse restrictions on our minds and bodies. After some research, we discovered that there already were a few recipes for dopamine fasting. These would last for 24 hours, but that is just an amusing trifle, not a suggestion to a life style. We invented our own rules:

§ 3. No sweets, chips or any other snackery is allowed. Meat is too tasty and must therefore be forbidden from use.

§ 4. Background music is forbidden. Music must be listened to, danced to or sung to.

§ 5. You are only allowed to watch entertainment on a screen in the company of others.

§ 6. Fondling of personal or the intimate zones of other individuals is forbidden.

§ 7. Pornography is forbidden.

§ 8. All social media is forbidden. Facebook may be used for communication purposes.

§ 9. There must never be excessive moisture on the bathroom mirror. Shower in cold water.

§ 1. All intoxicating substances are forbidden from use.

§ 2. No liquid is allowed except clean water.

§ 2.1. Tea is allowed for medicinal purposes.

§ 2.2. Exception: We are allowed to select four types of drink which one is allowed one unit of every day. This is for the purpose of maintaining a certain degree of sanity.

Benjamin: green tea
Åsmund: sparkling water
Ole: “swedish multivitamine frutedrynck”
Jostein: sugar-free juice

Running assessments

The whole collective fell under the scythe of omicron, also known as the Black Sneeze, as we set out for our inner expedition. We therefore made an exception and allowed unlimited magnitudes of tea for “medicinal purposes”. We soon found the collective dinners to be the only source of unrestricted dopamine rushes, which resulted in a disgraceful cabaret of dumpstered pork and beef on the evening of the 24th of February. We realized that too much dopamine was flowing, and unanimously agreed to ban meat completely. We had to explore other methods of good cooking.

The good life

Throughout the second week, as we had discarded many of our habits, we experienced a peculiar tranquility. Previously, we would be torn between the only pleasure and the next, but we now found ourselves living the same old life – now only without things we used to take for granted. We didn’t even miss the daily intake of alcohol-free beer or coffee, which long had been integrated elements of our collective culture. It must be said: being shamefully sober at Samfunnet is its own experience.

The fall of man

Throughout the fast, we learned a lot about ourselves, like what we –really- want to enjoy here in life, and how we can achieve them in other ways. The goal was to become hyper students, but school work was no less boring – just something we did, lacking anything else to do. We lived like pious monks, confessing our sins on the fridge. On Sunday the 6th of March, the first hours after the fast, we turned it the way around. How much dopamine is it possible to experience? We ate, drank and danced like emperor Caligula until the early morning. But this dopamine rush was nothing more than a warm southern wind: a brief source of comfort, then only a memory.

Retrospective

Two twelve-packs of Tuborg, two varieties of schnapps, four kilograms of sweets, chips and a whole bottle of cloudberry liquor in whipped cream did not succeed to impress anything of substance in our lives. When we woke up the day after, our life was the same as before. That might be the strongest lesson: before you get blind drunk or engage in another extravagant and costly cultivation of pleasure, remember that it will only be remembered as a vague memory. But bear this in mind: these memories lay the foundation of our lives and identities. Be in good spirits, surround yourselves with pleasant rituals and habits and relish life your own way. Just promise me to never take the good life for granted, especially in these turbulent times. Bottoms up, everybody!