[extropy-chat] Wireheading

[Anders Sandberg]

Alex Ramonsky wrote:
> There are many routes to feeling totally
> blissed out and getting  nothing done whatsoever, as I'm sure many LSD
> or Heroin fans would agree...but it's not as enjoyable overall as
> feeling a little bit blissed out and still being able to get on with
> life in a competent manner.

Life in dopaminergic overdrive is far more fun. I still remember the very
enjoyable experience of being blissed out on opiates and some
tranquilizers before going in for surgery many years ago, but it doesn't
compare to the feeling of flow when you are up at 2 in the morning writing
your academic masterpiece using every part of your mind. Flow/eudaimonia
beats plain pleasure.

Of course, we should be able to get that more if we can just stimulate the
right motivation subsystems. Panksepp's SEEKING and PLAY systems look like
a good place to start.
http://www.thinkbody.co.uk/papers/Panic%20Seeking%20%20play.htm
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=15766890&query_hl=1&itool=pubmed_docsum


And I feel fantastic
And I never felt as good as how I do right now
Except for maybe when I think of how I felt that day
When I felt the way that I do right now, right now, right now.

(Jonathan Coulton, I Feel Fantastic,
http://www.jonathancoulton.com/lyrics/i-feel-fantastic )

-- 
Anders Sandberg,
Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics
Philosophy Faculty of Oxford University