Dopamine Addiction Debate

Comments discuss dopamine's role in addiction, reward anticipation versus actual reward, and its relation to instant gratification from social media, gambling, and modern habits.

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Keywords

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Sample Comments

throwmeback Jan 9, 2024 View on HN

losing all nuance by virtue of getting dopamine quicker? count me in!

vips7L Dec 14, 2025 View on HN

This just sounds like addiction to the dopamine of instant gratification.

slicktux Feb 14, 2025 View on HN

Think about the dopamine release and persistence of it too!

gregwebs Jul 7, 2020 View on HN

It's really important for everyone to understand the point of the middle of this article which can be summarized as: "dopamine is not a reward, it is the expectation of a reward".However, this doesn't mean that one cannot be addicted to dopamine. Lab rats will submit themselves to physical harm to get more dopamine and humans given a dopamine button keep pressing it for more. This is explained in the book "The Willpower Instinct".It's probably the case th

hokus Jan 21, 2018 View on HN

so we are addicted to dopamine inhibitor inhibitors?

bloqs Mar 17, 2025 View on HN

It resonates because of dopamine, and little else

cachius Dec 7, 2025 View on HN

More like a desire for dopamine.

ignifero Jul 11, 2011 View on HN

He should have added "dopamine release is an aim in itself"

Loughla Oct 25, 2023 View on HN

Is a constant dopamine hit not addictive?

swader999 Dec 1, 2022 View on HN

It definitely messes with your dopamine levels.