[ExI] addiction

[Mike Dougherty]

On Wed, Apr 6, 2022, 11:36 AM William Flynn Wallace via extropy-chat <
extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:

> Addiction is not the same as having an irresistible impulse, a term
> created by defense lawyers).  Such an impulse doesn't not exist, in my
> opinion.  Yes, you can't stop things like vomiting.  Truly that is
> involuntary.
>

In your opinion.

I also quit smoking because I decided to. It was difficult to deny myself a
short-term satisfaction to realize a long term goal.  I had the impulse
control and resolve/willpower to change my habits.

I would never assume that because I have resolve that everyone has it.

I assume the conditioning to consume is endemic to those priviledged enough
to afford whatever-the-hell is consumable.

You might deny that addiction is real, but then you'll need another word to
explain the behavior... and yeah, it's a complex compartmentalization to
know the pattern is unhealthy but continue to choose self destruction.

Is it so hard to understand?  Depression and anxiety/fear about the state
of the world... makes the shot of dopamine from each bite more rewarding
than self-denial more attractive (addictive?) than it might be for those
without depression or anxiety.

Fixing this behavior is a mental and emotional health issue... one that
likely cannot be solved without also undermining the basic imperatives of
our consumer society.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.extropy.org/pipermail/extropy-chat/attachments/20220406/a67e9a9b/attachment.htm>