Life Model № 99/100
On a mid-May evening last year, my good friend and designer, Sean Wu, suddenly suggested going for a night run. I didn’t have the habit of long-distance running before, but on the first day, I was pushed to run 5 kilometers. Miraculously, since then, I’ve maintained the habit of long-distance running, and by October, I could effortlessly complete a half marathon of 21 kilometers.
To be honest, long-distance running is not the most comfortable activity, and there’s no immediate reward after each run. But why do many people enjoy long-distance running to the point of becoming addicted? There must be some mechanisms at play in our bodies.
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Let’s rewind time to 200,000 years ago on the African savannah.
On a cool evening, our Homo sapiens ancestors were stealthily approaching a group of gazelles under the cover of grass. The lead gazelle suddenly became alert, started sprinting, and the humans immediately began to chase. Despite running to exhaustion, the humans were left far behind as the gazelle escaped — another day of futile effort!
During hunting, humans often exerted strenuous effort, and not every attempt was successful. To ensure they could persevere with high spirits, the pituitary gland in the human brain would produce a substance capable of suppressing pain and enhancing happiness during the strenuous hunt — this substance is called “endorphin.”
When the hunting party returned to the settlement empty-handed, they coincidentally encountered another group responsible for gathering wild fruits. Today was exceptionally lucky for the gatherers; they brought back a heap of sweet berries. All humans immediately indulged in a feast, the immense satisfaction making them momentarily forget the day’s toil and troubles.
Engaging in certain activities induces pleasure, and this pleasure prompts us to do more of the same. As eating berries brought pleasure to humans, when they saw berries again, the desire to eat them arose, and eventually, humans learned to actively seek out berries. We call this system the “reward system.”
The key to the reward system is a substance called “dopamine.” The human brain secretes a substantial amount of dopamine when experiencing pleasure, and the brain records the degree of pleasure based on dopamine levels. To pursue more dopamine, humans instinctively tend to do things that bring them greater pleasure.
The human brain, through the secretion of endorphins and dopamine, intricately influences daily behavior. This ability has been encoded into our DNA, and our brains have formed two complementary mechanisms based on endorphins and dopamine:
- Endorphins act as a compensatory mechanism,
- Dopamine acts as a rewarding mechanism.
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When I am running long distances, the pressure on my cardiovascular system and muscles increases, bringing physical discomfort. To suppress this discomfort, my brain begins to release endorphins, which alleviate pain and make me feel happy. Because each long run allows me to experience the taste of endorphins, that’s why I persist.
When I complete a half marathon, the joy of achieving the goal stimulates the brain to release dopamine. When I share this achievement on social media and receive many likes, the dopamine concentration in my brain continues to rise. To experience the fullness of dopamine again, I start anticipating more likes.
Dopamine is a reward from the body for pleasure, and together with endorphins, they form a perfect system. Through compensation and reward, the brain helps us gain stronger survival and adaptability.
However, this system has a fatal flaw.
Research shows that the pleasure from dopamine is intense but short-lived, while endorphins are gentle and enduring. At the inception of this system, such a setup was reasonable because events that triggered dopamine release were not as common (berries were not readily available). But today, we live in an era where dopamine-inducing events are ubiquitous, and our genes have not had time to adjust.
We instinctively pursue intense and easily attainable pleasures, gradually forgetting the taste of endorphins, immersing ourselves in the temptation of dopamine.
- Compared to watching a 120-minute movie, we prefer scrolling through short videos;
- Instead of understanding a complex mathematical formula, electronic games are evidently more tempting;
- Healthy food is too bland; ordering crispy fried chicken through a smartphone is more appealing.
These seemingly inconspicuous daily activities, when connected, become deadly. This manifests as us losing the ability to delay gratification. Due to the body’s tolerance to dopamine, the same amount of dopamine release may no longer induce the same intensity of physiological or behavioral effects; we must constantly pursue greater stimuli to experience pleasure.
The once-rewarding mechanism turns into a poisonous lure that tempts us into decadence,
The once-compensatory mechanism has long been abandoned by us.
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If an individual succumbs, it may be a personal tragedy, but unfortunately, the dopamine trap will inadvertently be passed on to the next generation.
You must have seen similar scenes: a child crying incessantly, and the parent throws a smartphone to them. The child immediately stops crying and starts playing with the phone; this trick to “pacify the child” is very effective.
This behavior of parents is inducing children into the dopamine loop during the early stages of cognitive development. Instead of making demands on the child — such as quietly reading a book for 2 hours to watch a 30-minute cartoon — giving a reward to shift the child’s attention is indeed more convenient. However, the child loses the opportunity to experience endorphins, becoming impatient, unwilling to endure hardship, and finding it difficult to persevere in tasks.
From the perspective of neuroscience and biochemistry, you can understand the so-called “spoiling” of children, bringing significant hazards to their growth.
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Genes are like hardware, iterating at a slow pace; the speed of social development is too fast, and we must upgrade the software — our thinking, to quickly adapt to new external environments.
Faced with the ancient mechanisms of endorphins and dopamine, we, in modern society, should restrain our dependence on dopamine, persevere in long-term, slow-effective, and delayed gratification pursuits, creating more opportunities to release endorphins. Let compensation and reward return to a complementary balance.
Now that you understand the operating principles of endorphins and dopamine and how they influence our daily lives, let this be an inspiration to create a life model — the Endorphin Model:
We should cultivate patience and intrinsic satisfaction by persistently pursuing long-term, meaningful goals, constructing positive and enduring life experiences.
In this Endorphin Model, we can liken life to a marathon, and endorphins are the source of our endurance. Instead of being swayed by the transient stimulation of dopamine, let’s learn to appreciate the warmth of endorphins and experience lasting satisfaction in the long journey of life. Let’s free ourselves from the likes and instant pleasures on the screen and embrace those things that require time and patience. By focusing on long-term, slow-effective pursuits, we can build a more balanced and fulfilling life. Guided by the Endorphin Model, we can not only better face the challenges of life but also find true happiness in the pursuit of inner peace.
Let endorphins be our life’s compass, guiding us towards a more profound and meaningful journey.
