This is the basic core of addiction. Addictions are when there’s an intolerable sensation but you find a way to bear its presence without addressing its cause. The more that distraction becomes a habit, the more that’s the thing you automatically turn to when the sensation arises. This dynamic becomes desperate and life-destroying to the extent that it triggers a red queen race.
I doubt that addiction requires some intolerable sensation that you need to drown out. I’m pretty confident its mostly a habits/feedback loops and sometimes physical dependence.
For instance, ~1 billion people worldwide are addicted to caffeine. I think that’s just what happens when a person regularly consumes coffee. It has nothing to do with some intolerable sensation.
I’m guessing we’re using the word “addiction” differently.
I don’t deny that there’s a biological adaptation going on. Caffeine inhibits adenosine, prompting the body to grow more adenosine receptors. And stopping caffeine intake means the adenosine hit is more intense & it takes a while for the body to decide to break down some of those extra receptors.
(Or something like that; I’m drudging up memories of things I was told years ago about the biochemistry of caffeine.)
But here’s the thing:
Why does that prompt someone to reach for coffee?
“It’s a habit” doesn’t cut it. If the person decides to stop caffeine intake and gets it out of their house, they might find themselves rationalizing a visit to Starbucks.
There’s an intelligent process that is agentically aiming for something here.
There’s nothing wrong with feeling tired, sluggish, etc. You have to make it wrong. Make it mean something — like “Oh no, I won’t be productive if I don’t fix this!”
This is the “intolerable” part. Intolerability isn’t intrinsic to a sensation. It’s actually about how we relate to a sensation.
I’ve gone through caffeine withdrawal several times. Drudged through the feelings of depression, lethargy, inadequacy, etc. But with the tone of facing them. Really feeling them. It takes me just three days to biologically adapt to caffeine, so I’ve done this quite a few times now. But I actually dissolved the temptation to stay hooked. Now I just use caffeine very occasionally, and if it becomes important to do for a few days in a row… I just go through the withdrawal right afterwards. It’s not a big deal.
Which is to say, I’ve dissolved the addiction, even though I can still biologically adapt to it just like anyone else. I would say I’m not addicted to it even when I do get into an adaptive state with it.
It does clarify what you are talking about, thank you.
Now it’s your use of “intolerable” that I don’t like. I think most people could kick a coffee addiction if they were given enough incentive, so withdrawal is not strictly intolerable. If every feeling that people take actions to avoid is “intolerable”, then the word loses a lot of its meaning. I think “unpleasant” is a better word. (Also, the reason people get addicted to caffeine in the first place isn’t the withdrawal, but more that it alleviates tiredness, which is even less “intolerable.”)
Your phrasing in the below section read to me like addiction is symptomatic of some character defect. If we replace the “intolerable” with “unpleasant” here, it’s less dramatic and makes a lot more sense to me.
This is the basic core of addiction. Addictions are when there’s an intolerable sensation but you find a way to bear its presence without addressing its cause. The more that distraction becomes a habit, the more that’s the thing you automatically turn to when the sensation arises. This dynamic becomes desperate and life-destroying to the extent that it triggers a red queen race.
I don’t think this matters much for the rest of the post. It just felt like this mischaracterizes what addiction is really about.
I doubt that addiction requires some intolerable sensation that you need to drown out. I’m pretty confident its mostly a habits/feedback loops and sometimes physical dependence.
For instance, ~1 billion people worldwide are addicted to caffeine. I think that’s just what happens when a person regularly consumes coffee. It has nothing to do with some intolerable sensation.
I’m guessing we’re using the word “addiction” differently.
I don’t deny that there’s a biological adaptation going on. Caffeine inhibits adenosine, prompting the body to grow more adenosine receptors. And stopping caffeine intake means the adenosine hit is more intense & it takes a while for the body to decide to break down some of those extra receptors.
(Or something like that; I’m drudging up memories of things I was told years ago about the biochemistry of caffeine.)
But here’s the thing:
Why does that prompt someone to reach for coffee?
“It’s a habit” doesn’t cut it. If the person decides to stop caffeine intake and gets it out of their house, they might find themselves rationalizing a visit to Starbucks.
There’s an intelligent process that is agentically aiming for something here.
There’s nothing wrong with feeling tired, sluggish, etc. You have to make it wrong. Make it mean something — like “Oh no, I won’t be productive if I don’t fix this!”
This is the “intolerable” part. Intolerability isn’t intrinsic to a sensation. It’s actually about how we relate to a sensation.
I’ve gone through caffeine withdrawal several times. Drudged through the feelings of depression, lethargy, inadequacy, etc. But with the tone of facing them. Really feeling them. It takes me just three days to biologically adapt to caffeine, so I’ve done this quite a few times now. But I actually dissolved the temptation to stay hooked. Now I just use caffeine very occasionally, and if it becomes important to do for a few days in a row… I just go through the withdrawal right afterwards. It’s not a big deal.
Which is to say, I’ve dissolved the addiction, even though I can still biologically adapt to it just like anyone else. I would say I’m not addicted to it even when I do get into an adaptive state with it.
Does that clarify what I’m talking about for you?
It does clarify what you are talking about, thank you.
Now it’s your use of “intolerable” that I don’t like. I think most people could kick a coffee addiction if they were given enough incentive, so withdrawal is not strictly intolerable. If every feeling that people take actions to avoid is “intolerable”, then the word loses a lot of its meaning. I think “unpleasant” is a better word. (Also, the reason people get addicted to caffeine in the first place isn’t the withdrawal, but more that it alleviates tiredness, which is even less “intolerable.”)
Your phrasing in the below section read to me like addiction is symptomatic of some character defect. If we replace the “intolerable” with “unpleasant” here, it’s less dramatic and makes a lot more sense to me.
I don’t think this matters much for the rest of the post. It just felt like this mischaracterizes what addiction is really about.