No matter what they tell you about addiction, it is not a disease, nor is it the result of our toxic culture. Addiction is, and always has been, part of the human condition. Bag has written previously about how we all have a psychological foothold in two distinctly different worlds (link here): the outside world of reality and the world between our ears. To the outside world, our individual addictions present as an intense narrowing of focus. Consider a drug addict. The decisions they make, how they treat others, and what they do with their time, are all narrowly framed by when and from where their next fix is coming. Their addiction controls their decision-making, creates their personality, and ultimately, defines who they are.
To the world between our ears, our individual addictions present as an escape hatch. Daily life is absurd on so many levels that maintaining sanity requires a near-constant processing of the various negative emotions that life provokes. Dealing with persistent feelings of anger, guilt, frustration, and shame is no easy task. In an attempt to avoid those emotions altogether, our psyche drives us to escape that burden by feeding our addictions. It does not matter if your preferred escape is rolling a joint, force-feeding a slot machine, opening a bottle of wine, or some other addiction; the result is always the same—a temporary respite from both acknowledging and dealing with reality.
When you think about big picture stuff, like Good and Evil, or God and the Devil - It is always the Devil’s side that requires sacrificing long-term values in return for some short-term gain. The deal is always, you can be famous, wealthy, or powerful today, but the cost tomorrow is your soul. That is exactly what addiction is, a deal with the dark side. The temptation (The Devil’s weapon of choice) of some temporary relief from the day-to-day seems harmless initially. Slowly though, we become increasingly dependent upon that relief. Of course, the more dependent we are on something, the more we will rationalize its necessity, regardless of the damage it may cause ourselves or our loved ones. The increasing dependency also comes with the proverbial steep price tag of: a gradual loss of agency over our own life. A Faustian bargain, indeed.
We are all Addicts….
Bag is no exception. We all have behaviors we regularly engage in that we shouldn’t. Be honest, you too, have dabbled at some point. Maybe a drink or two on the clock, or a few pills here, some weed there. Bag’s not judging. In fact, it wouldn’t shock him if half of you reading this right now were high as a kite. In Bag’s youth, he was routinely juggling about a half dozen addictions at any given moment. Coffee, cigarettes, alcohol, poker, women, sports betting, nightclubs, cigars, dope, fast food, and Las Vegas benders - were just some of the plates he routinely kept spinning. Bag knew a lot of those things were a problem. But instead of cutting them out, the game became addiction management. Rather than quitting smoking, Bag would bargain down to smoking Marlboro lights instead of the full-strength Marlboro reds. An extra large decaf is better than no coffee. Or maybe just five slices of pizza instead of the usual six.
Bag was one of the lucky ones, as he realized early addiction management was not the answer. All bargaining ever did, in the end, was lose more ground to the addiction. He saw firsthand that managing addiction, especially multiple addictions, was no recipe for longevity. Bag’s father was an alcoholic and a workaholic, who smoked and gambled too much. His reward was an early grave. Bag has always believed every cloud has a silver lining if you look hard enough. The silver lining in his dad’s passing was the proof nobody ever gets long-term fulfillment from any addiction. And so most of those addictions listed above had to go and go they did.
The real irony is we are all addicted to the same thing….
A select few, such as Michael Jordan with basketball or Warren Buffet with growing wealth, chose their addictions wisely. Unlike most of us who work for our addictions, they were able to make their addictions work for them. “BUT BAG, I am a tea-totalling, in bed by nine, deeply spiritual, family man (or woman), who has no addictions.” Bag is calling bullshit; you are addicted to the same thing as everyone else. When Jordan hits a game-winning shot, Buffet makes billions on an investment, the tea-totaller plays with their grandkids, or the heroin junkie secures his next fix; in the deepest recesses of their minds, all of them get the same reward: a hit of Dopamine. The basketball, the stock deal, the grandkids, and the vial are not addictions. They are triggers. They are nothing more than individualized delivery mechanisms, bringing us each the very same thing we are all addicted to: Dopamine.
Bag had a very close friend a few decades back who took his own life on the 23rd floor of a Las Vegas strip hotel. He spent most of his adult life in and out of Gambler’s anonymous meetings. He acknowledged gambling was destroying his life many times, and still, he couldn’t quit. He was one of the most intelligent men Bag has ever met, and yet, he was a complete slave to his addiction. Bag once asked what was it about gambling that made him lose control. He responded candidly with something along the lines of:
“I never feel more alive than the moment the dealer is turning over the last card, or the dice are in the air, or it’s 4th and goal with seconds to play … those moments are what I live for. If I could recreate that feeling some other way, I would, but I can’t.”
At the time he said it, Bag believed that his uncontrollable addiction - the metaphorical monkey on his back - was gambling for huge sums. But now, with a few more decades in the rear-view, and a much deeper understanding of Psychology, Bag realizes the “gambling” was just the trigger; the actual addiction was the Dopamine rush and the feeling that comes with it.
It is no different with an alcoholic. The highlight of their day is not crawling into bed after a 12-pack, or waking up the next day with a splitting headache. No, those moments suck. The best part of their day is the Dopamine release that comes with pouring that first glass of wine or grabbing that first ice-cold beer from the fridge. Every beer after that is just a futile attempt at recreating the initial rush of Dopamine. Once again, the “alcohol” is just the trigger; chasing the Dopamine is the real addiction.
All new extra-strength addictions ….
If we were to list the most widespread addictions plaguing society 50 years ago (1973), It would be hard to argue with a top five of alcohol, illicit drugs, gambling, sex, and cigarettes. The up-to-date 2.0 version for 2023 would be social media, internet porn, video games, and designer/pharmaceutical drugs. Everything on the 1973 list brings a temporary respite from reality, while everything on the 2023 list offers a much more profound separation from reality. The ditch weed (or maybe it was a dime-bag of Oregano) Bag’s generation smoked doesn’t compare to the near-pure THC the younger generation has today.
The items on the 1973 list, do come with an OCCASIONAL release of Dopamine, whereas the 2023 addictions offer a more constant flow of Dopamine. Think about it: in the same ten seconds it takes an alcoholic to get off their couch and retrieve a beer from the fridge, their video game-playing teen, will (1) jump out of a 3rd story window, (2) shoot a couple of bad guys, (3) steal a car, and (4) flee from the cops. The teen is getting four Dopamine hits, in the time the alcoholic is lucky to get one.
Dopamine streaming and the prolonged separation from reality are not the only things making the 2023 modern-day addictions far more dangerous than those of the past. The 1973 list of addictions was primarily restricted to adults. Sure, a teen could get an occasional taste raiding his parent’s liquor cabinet, but not near enough to form an addiction. The 2023 list is far more nefarious in that a couple of those things specifically target our youth. An unfortunate side effect of any addiction, due to the addict’s narrowed focus, is the restriction of intellectual and emotional development. Bag would argue that stunting the growth of our youth by handing them cell phones and PlayStations, is downright child abuse.
I-phones don’t grow on trees….
For generations now, corporations, governments, and academic institutions everywhere have been pouring huge dollars into the research and development of products designed specifically to exploit the human tendency for addiction. These institutions have a vested interest in manufacturing the devices that keep their finger, on our Dopamine trigger. After all, a society full of walking, talking, zombie-like addicts is easy to control. At the end of the day, that’s what addiction is all about: Control. Either you control your own Dopamine flow, or your Dopamine flow will be used to control you.
Your choice.
if you haven't read or listened to Professor Dr. Carl Hart, he's pretty radical in his thinking. His views on addiction and abuse are similar to yours, but he adds a few twists and turns. He's discovered in his studies with animals that their environment plays a big part. i believe he's been on Rogan a few times i believe this is his second of 3 possibly 4 interviews. i'd be curious what you thought. great piece of writing. you're efficient, yet your ability to keep people in gaged is done quite well. thanks for sharing.
ihttps://open.spotify.com/episode/7AYP8u4KPMvdH7qBUnFN9f?si=v2S7Vh3WSsms5kplLvFmxg
Sour cream and onion potato chips. That first one is soooo good - nice jolt of dopamine! Then, the rest are downhill from there.. I wish I could eat just one and put the bag away. My $3.29 could keep me in heaven for months!