James, thanks for the effort you put in to talk about this ubiquitous obsession with chemicals and the idea of optimizing ourselves by infusing the right ones and draining the wrong ones from our bodies. You named something that many in our age must feel but don't know how to express.
Loved the exposition of the chemical pantheon. Such a powerful metaphor.
And such unexpected tangents - about friendship, wisdom, and about the vertical of reality.
I'm grateful to you for making this verticality of reality more obvious, or maybe, in your words, letting your wisdom ‘shine’ about this topic.
" Anyone who has ever done anything interesting would have done it anyway, even if they suffered a little leaded gasoline in the air or micro plastic in the balls."
Definitely. He finds your ladder in the way we relate to one another face-to-face; see the person/other in the face as we see a face in the splodges of paint that make up the Mona Lisa; exist as points-of-view on the material world that nonetheless aren't of the material world. If I recall correctly a whole chapter is dedicated to what exactly is meant by "I".
That's my poor summary of a book that's very good, and not long.
I heard a famous "thinker" which now means "talker" touch on their faith as a protocol. Their faith was Catholicism but they said you could substitute that for any other faith you just need some kind of a mystical protocol. I don't believe Jesus or Buddha would prefer being substituted like butter for margarine. Thanks for articulating what they are trying to control for, extremely well said.
I really appreciated how this piece pointed out that dopamine isn’t just a chemical but a pattern our culture builds its habits around. When you talked about scrolling or quick hits being little dumps that train the brain to chase more and more, it made the whole “dopamine problem” feel less like vague self‑help language and more like an actual structure we live inside. The way you connected that to how we experience the world instead of just consume it was particularly sharp. This isn’t just about willpower, it’s about how our attention gets shaped. I’m going to be thinking about that distinction — between living life and reacting to stimuli — for a while.
“Wonder and rapture are key because they transform. And that’s what we all actually need - transformation.”
Amen. I have begun to think many of us have never actually wondered much at anything. No one ever seems to tell me what it means for something to be wonder-full
Wonderful insights on the usual suspects here. We love to hide from the onus which true purpose reveals to us. If we can chop things up into mechanisms and discrete parts we can both maintain the illusion of control while at the same time loosing sight of Jacob’s Ladder, or the cross, or anything even close to a vertical and elevated perspective on our condition.
Great post, and I really appreciate you further articulating this insight. I can't stand ontological level smuggling. A big part of wisdom is attuning to the relevant level of reality.
Something did stick to me during the bit about online people selling vitality routines, though. I'm not exactly sure what it was. Maybe it's a question about how we make sense of online people "selling wisdom and wonder."
To be clear, I'm not saying anyone can truly tell those things, doesn't work like that, but articles like your own or YouTubers motivating a turn towards poetry or staring at trees. All these genuinely good things that encourage wonder and meaning. How do you relate to the trap of falling into the same pyramid scheme dynamics in that domain?
Used to feel that I'm really onto something after reading Thinking Fast and Slow, or Behave, or watching Huberman podcast.
But it never translated to anything you might call "wisdom".
Those are nice hacks. Once you know more of your body's chemistry, you might be more aware and manouver in harder moments of your life.
I don't deny it might be very useful to know this chemistry sometimes.
But the biggest threat that comes with it, is that you get stuck on dopamine, oxytocine and other "-ines" as a means to achieve something meaningful in life.
That was my very big error to try to force low-level thinking on big questions of life.
Still recovering from that. (But also still good not to deny utility of those things, sometimes they are helpful).
I think this "dopamine" emphasis has a sad shadow.
Sort of like how sick people or elderly people always want to talk about their ailments. A healthy person, an alive person, talks about the world outside of their heads.
so good man - ‘ontological dumping ground’ is perfect. Using dopamine as an answer feels less like explanation and more like a way to avoid asking what the ladder is actually leaning against.
This is the third piece of yours I’ve read and there is something wonderfully fun about your writing. You take us on a wild journey and even if I am have no idea what you're responding to, I know I'm reading the take I want to be reading.
It was the Thor explanation that really put it all together for me, by the way. 👏
James, thanks for the effort you put in to talk about this ubiquitous obsession with chemicals and the idea of optimizing ourselves by infusing the right ones and draining the wrong ones from our bodies. You named something that many in our age must feel but don't know how to express.
Loved the exposition of the chemical pantheon. Such a powerful metaphor.
And such unexpected tangents - about friendship, wisdom, and about the vertical of reality.
I'm grateful to you for making this verticality of reality more obvious, or maybe, in your words, letting your wisdom ‘shine’ about this topic.
"infusing the right ones and draining the wrong ones" is such a great image and sums it up better than I managed. Thanks for reading.
Ha. You managed quite well! Thanks for challenging through your writing.
" Anyone who has ever done anything interesting would have done it anyway, even if they suffered a little leaded gasoline in the air or micro plastic in the balls."
hahahahahah
It took me a couple of reads. My head hurts
No pain no gain?
I have regarded the cult of dopamine with suspicion for some time now. This was a good read.
Thanks, Robert. Me too.
What a delightful read!
Thanks!
Really very good. Are you familiar with Scruton's The Face Of God? It covers similar ground.
I've never heard of it. Worth a look?
Definitely. He finds your ladder in the way we relate to one another face-to-face; see the person/other in the face as we see a face in the splodges of paint that make up the Mona Lisa; exist as points-of-view on the material world that nonetheless aren't of the material world. If I recall correctly a whole chapter is dedicated to what exactly is meant by "I".
That's my poor summary of a book that's very good, and not long.
I heard a famous "thinker" which now means "talker" touch on their faith as a protocol. Their faith was Catholicism but they said you could substitute that for any other faith you just need some kind of a mystical protocol. I don't believe Jesus or Buddha would prefer being substituted like butter for margarine. Thanks for articulating what they are trying to control for, extremely well said.
I really appreciated how this piece pointed out that dopamine isn’t just a chemical but a pattern our culture builds its habits around. When you talked about scrolling or quick hits being little dumps that train the brain to chase more and more, it made the whole “dopamine problem” feel less like vague self‑help language and more like an actual structure we live inside. The way you connected that to how we experience the world instead of just consume it was particularly sharp. This isn’t just about willpower, it’s about how our attention gets shaped. I’m going to be thinking about that distinction — between living life and reacting to stimuli — for a while.
“Wonder and rapture are key because they transform. And that’s what we all actually need - transformation.”
Amen. I have begun to think many of us have never actually wondered much at anything. No one ever seems to tell me what it means for something to be wonder-full
Wonderful insights on the usual suspects here. We love to hide from the onus which true purpose reveals to us. If we can chop things up into mechanisms and discrete parts we can both maintain the illusion of control while at the same time loosing sight of Jacob’s Ladder, or the cross, or anything even close to a vertical and elevated perspective on our condition.
Great post, and I really appreciate you further articulating this insight. I can't stand ontological level smuggling. A big part of wisdom is attuning to the relevant level of reality.
Something did stick to me during the bit about online people selling vitality routines, though. I'm not exactly sure what it was. Maybe it's a question about how we make sense of online people "selling wisdom and wonder."
To be clear, I'm not saying anyone can truly tell those things, doesn't work like that, but articles like your own or YouTubers motivating a turn towards poetry or staring at trees. All these genuinely good things that encourage wonder and meaning. How do you relate to the trap of falling into the same pyramid scheme dynamics in that domain?
Got your serotonin right here
That resonates with me.
Used to feel that I'm really onto something after reading Thinking Fast and Slow, or Behave, or watching Huberman podcast.
But it never translated to anything you might call "wisdom".
Those are nice hacks. Once you know more of your body's chemistry, you might be more aware and manouver in harder moments of your life.
I don't deny it might be very useful to know this chemistry sometimes.
But the biggest threat that comes with it, is that you get stuck on dopamine, oxytocine and other "-ines" as a means to achieve something meaningful in life.
That was my very big error to try to force low-level thinking on big questions of life.
Still recovering from that. (But also still good not to deny utility of those things, sometimes they are helpful).
I think this "dopamine" emphasis has a sad shadow.
Sort of like how sick people or elderly people always want to talk about their ailments. A healthy person, an alive person, talks about the world outside of their heads.
so good man - ‘ontological dumping ground’ is perfect. Using dopamine as an answer feels less like explanation and more like a way to avoid asking what the ladder is actually leaning against.
This is the third piece of yours I’ve read and there is something wonderfully fun about your writing. You take us on a wild journey and even if I am have no idea what you're responding to, I know I'm reading the take I want to be reading.
It was the Thor explanation that really put it all together for me, by the way. 👏