QT:{{”
The phenomenon Gioia describes isn’t happening just to culture; it recurs across American life. We have access to wonderful things. But they require effort, so we settle for the junky things that provide the quick dopamine hits. We could all be eating a Mediterranean diet, but instead it’s potato chips and cherry Coke. We could enjoy the richness of full awareness, but booze, weed and other drugs provide that quick reward…..
Even journalism has found ways to trigger dopamine for profit. We journalists go into this business to inform and provoke, but many outlets have found they can generate clicks by telling partisan viewers how right they are about everything. Minute after minute they’re rubbing their audience’s pleasure centers, which feels like a somewhat older profession.
The result is we’re now in a culture in which we want worse things — the cheap hit over the long flourishing. You reach for immediate gratification, but it fails to satisfy. It just puts you on a hamster wheel of looking for the next mild stimulus and pretty soon you’re in the land of addiction and junk food, you just keep scrolling, you just keep snacking. ….
Big companies don’t care. They have become sensational at arousing and manipulating our cravings. Their goal is to keep us consuming.
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https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/05/opinion/entertainment-junk-psychology.html
The Junkification of American Life
Sept. 5, 2024
David Brooks is an Opinion columnist for The Times, writing about political, social and cultural trends. @nytdavidbrooks
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