Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Why do we crave things that are bad for us?
Smokes... alcohol... drugs... overeating... gambling... toxic lovers... we've all got a vice (some people more than one)... but why?
Dr. Phil would probably say... stupidity... stubbornness... low-self esteem... adrenaline... some sort of psychosis I can't even pronounce or spell. I'm sure there are scientific reasons too involving chemicals in our brains (serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, melatonin, insulin, and prostaglandin). I don't even know what these chemicals do... (I googled it)... if only I knew the answer... maybe I should have taken biology or chemistry in school (or maybe I should wikipedia it - NOT)!
Our thumbs have developed into a useful tool but we still haven't genetically evolved to the point to where we instinctively run away from ALL bad things... instead we are drawn to some that seem to be low risk? In reality... we probably are underestimating the risk of our bad habits and risky behavior... we are always being presented with statistics... the risks presented seem almost as unlikely as winning the lottery. But people do win the lottery!
To be fair, it's not just humans that like things that are bad for them... porcupines like hot pavement... and we all know how that ends. We really should take a lesson from the porcupines... the heat of the moment isn't worth it! We assume they want the heat from the pavement but maybe that's not the case... maybe they are depressed (their life does kind of suck compared to the other furry animals - well except the hunted ones)... maybe this is the porquipines version of skydiving (ok that's a bit of a stretch)!
How do we program our brains to turn the things we love into something we don't desire. Do we all need to be hypnotized? Does that even work?
Of course in an opposite scenario... if we don't want to do something... but we know it would help us... how do we convince ourselves to go for it and fight our instinct to resist because it requires too much effort or pain?
Does something drastic have to happen in our lives to give us a wake-up call? With most people... I think it does.
said...
said...
Dr. Phil would probably say... stupidity... stubbornness... low-self esteem... adrenaline... some sort of psychosis I can't even pronounce or spell. I'm sure there are scientific reasons too involving chemicals in our brains (serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, melatonin, insulin, and prostaglandin). I don't even know what these chemicals do... (I googled it)... if only I knew the answer... maybe I should have taken biology or chemistry in school (or maybe I should wikipedia it - NOT)!
Our thumbs have developed into a useful tool but we still haven't genetically evolved to the point to where we instinctively run away from ALL bad things... instead we are drawn to some that seem to be low risk? In reality... we probably are underestimating the risk of our bad habits and risky behavior... we are always being presented with statistics... the risks presented seem almost as unlikely as winning the lottery. But people do win the lottery!
To be fair, it's not just humans that like things that are bad for them... porcupines like hot pavement... and we all know how that ends. We really should take a lesson from the porcupines... the heat of the moment isn't worth it! We assume they want the heat from the pavement but maybe that's not the case... maybe they are depressed (their life does kind of suck compared to the other furry animals - well except the hunted ones)... maybe this is the porquipines version of skydiving (ok that's a bit of a stretch)!
How do we program our brains to turn the things we love into something we don't desire. Do we all need to be hypnotized? Does that even work?
Of course in an opposite scenario... if we don't want to do something... but we know it would help us... how do we convince ourselves to go for it and fight our instinct to resist because it requires too much effort or pain?
Does something drastic have to happen in our lives to give us a wake-up call? With most people... I think it does.
2 Comments:
said...
said...
"How do we program our brains to turn the things we love into something we don’t desire. Do we all need to be hypnotized? Does that even work? "
Good topic Michelle..
In my honest opinion..being one of those people with more than one vice and have stopped sucumbing to most of them..the desire never goes away. We can only train ourselves to stop doing it. The desire is always there.
