Silicon Valley's Newest Health Fad: Dopamine Fasting (theguardian.com) 89
"They have done biohacking, clean sleeping and the keto diet, but now Silicon Valley types have coined a new health trend -- dopamine fasting," reports the Guardian:
It is thought that depriving yourself of the neurotransmitter, a chemical messenger that motivates us to do things, can help to reboot or rebalance the brain. Fasting might entail abstinence from technology, artificial light, food, drink, conversation, eye contact -- essentially anything that an individual finds stimulating.
But is there any sense to the fad? "Retreating from life probably makes life more interesting when you come back to it," says David Nutt, director of the neuropsychopharmacology unit in the division of brain sciences at Imperial College London. "Monks have been doing it for thousands of years. Whether that has anything to do with dopamine is unclear."
A professor at UCSF Medical School tells the New York Times that the name is a misnomer, since it's more of a stimulation fast. The Times writes that "A dopamine fast is simple because it is basically a fast of everything... The number of things to not do is potentially endless." Silicon Valley is not the first group to discover that moderating emotions or spending periods trying to feel less can lead to happiness. In their quest, they are moving toward two very old groups: those in silent meditation and the Amish.... Karen Donovan, who is developing a new Vipassana silent meditation center in Silicon Valley, said she sees this trend as moving closer to the ultimate dopamine fast: sitting on a dark floor with eyes closed for 10 days.
"There's a growing self-awareness of what in Vipassana terms we would call suffering," she said.
But is there any sense to the fad? "Retreating from life probably makes life more interesting when you come back to it," says David Nutt, director of the neuropsychopharmacology unit in the division of brain sciences at Imperial College London. "Monks have been doing it for thousands of years. Whether that has anything to do with dopamine is unclear."
A professor at UCSF Medical School tells the New York Times that the name is a misnomer, since it's more of a stimulation fast. The Times writes that "A dopamine fast is simple because it is basically a fast of everything... The number of things to not do is potentially endless." Silicon Valley is not the first group to discover that moderating emotions or spending periods trying to feel less can lead to happiness. In their quest, they are moving toward two very old groups: those in silent meditation and the Amish.... Karen Donovan, who is developing a new Vipassana silent meditation center in Silicon Valley, said she sees this trend as moving closer to the ultimate dopamine fast: sitting on a dark floor with eyes closed for 10 days.
"There's a growing self-awareness of what in Vipassana terms we would call suffering," she said.
What? (Score:5, Insightful)
Prisons call this "solitary confinement".
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"Prisons call this "solitary confinement"."
And you can get it for free.
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10 days of your life.
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FYI: Vipassana is free. Look it up. (Not sure if it still is in Silicon Valley)
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Difference is your state of mind. If your mind is peaceful that solitary confinement, assuming you could leave after a couple of days, is bliss. If your mind is pummeling you then it's torture.
self imposed Autistic behavior (Score:1)
Same reason people cut themselves ... (Score:2)
or are addicted to sports ...
or stretch their asses until they bleed and prolapse:
To temporarily numb the pain/suffering sensors by overwhelming them, so everyday suffering is numbed too.
You know ... instead of solving those problems. (If you can..., I guess...)
I, for one, prefer a couple of large beers and some candy, to be frank.
fasting (Score:2)
I've done regular fasts for a few days (no food, just non-caloric drinks) and the first bite of food is amazing. The feeling is only temporary though. An hour later, feelings are normal. Also, the effect is strong on the first fast, but gets much weaker in subsequent fasts.
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"Also, the effect is strong on the first fast, but gets much weaker in subsequent fasts."
That's why you have to increase the fasting dose. Up to 40 days, then the apple you break your fast with tastes like ....crap, it's still just a Golden Delicious.
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LOOK EVERYONE!
This guy saw Family Guy S18E01, but got it wrong!
https://youtu.be/YJfBuh6zzSc [youtu.be]
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Maybe Family Guy did it because that's the actual truth about apples.
No! Moderation! (Score:5, Interesting)
Why must something be taken to an extreme?
If you want to feel balanced then be balanced. Don't start cranking knobs all the way to 0 or 11. Find the balance for you, everyone is different. There are some nice mindfulness meditation centers in California, like the Insight Meditation Center. They teach you to listen to your body and listen to your mind so that you can make small adjustments to slowly find your balance. You don't just beat your body and mind into submission or rake it over coals so it will go into shock and 'reset', that sounds like you're trying to induce some kind of trauma, or at least develop a complex.
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Long ago, a guy called Siddhartha Gautama [wikipedia.org] tried to achieve something by being an extreme religious nutcase for a few years. Then he realized a platitude that every middle-aged person with half a brain ends up figuring out anyway, which is that moderation works best
So, yeah, you and the Buddha are right.
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Chances are that "person" never existed in the first place. Just another myth.
Re: No! Moderation! (Score:2)
What any guy with half a brain like you doesnt realize that in proper meditaion (Hindu or Buddhist), moderation is a goal to access higher states of consciousness and not a goal in itself.
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You have already made an error in practice and will never achieve it. Having a goal, you have lost the way.
Re:No! Moderation! (Score:5, Insightful)
You can't charge people $150 per hour for moderation. Once the next tech recession hits, all of this stuff will go away.
Re:No! Moderation! (Score:4, Insightful)
Once the next tech recession hits, all of this stuff will go away.
No, more people will be doing it . . . involuntarily:
Sitting on the floor of a dark tent on the sidewalk, fasting, because there's no money for food, and nothing to do anyway.
I think the next tech recession will be a very "spiritual" period.
Re:No! Moderation! (Score:5, Insightful)
Why must something be taken to an extreme?
Because of the people doing it. They believe more is better and they have simple minds that can only see one parameter at a time. And when they find out that constant sensory overload is not that good an idea, instead of reducing it, they add complete sensory deprivation as the fix, because more is better. That actual life is complex and has many factors that all matter at the same time is simply beyond them.
In actual reality, you are perfectly right. "Balance" is the key. Unless and until you can replace your body with something else, you need to listen to it and find that balance or your overall quality of everything drops. You do not even need to subscribe to any of the philosophy that usually comes meditation. Running any kind of system in its optimal performance point is just good engineering. And that optimal point is never at the extremes.
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Re:No! Moderation! (Score:5, Insightful)
Because people want a quick fix. Many people want to find a simple answer that will quickly and easily solve their problems so that they can go back to their existing lifestyle except that they are happier. Asking them to do things in moderation requires them to make real, permanent changes that they don't want even though that's what they need to get the results that they desire.
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A good friend of my is a facilitator for MBSR
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
While it does not work for everyone, for some people it is very beneficial.
Moderation, not monotony. Meditation & roller (Score:3)
I appreciate that while recommending moderation, you also brought up meditation - which is basically extreme quiet. Moderation doesn't mean everything you eat has to be moderately sweet, you still have time for pie and time for chili.
Something I learned when I DJed was that in order for a loud passage to have impact, I needed to first subtly lower the volume for a couple of minutes so the audience could acclimate to the lower volume. A loud passage proceeded by a lot of loud is just more of the same.
I thi
Pay for this, WHY? (Score:5, Funny)
One hell of a lot cheaper, plus, after the 10 day deprivation period, I have 21 more days of storage I have paid for.
I hope someone gets the obscure Snow Crash reference.
Red
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He said churches. (Score:2)
What do they have to do with schizophrenia, also known as 'religion'?
Except for usually preying on people with that illness.
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weren't monks employees, albeit only paid in room and board? what the churches charged for were indulgences and platitudes to the wealthy, who could donate and get a token warm fuzzy (and occasionally a corrupt kickback) without the inconvenience of living a spiritual life. (whether a spiritual life is actually worth anything is another story, but apparently there has been demand.)
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weren't monks employees, albeit only paid in room and board?
"Aren't", and nowadays they usually get some kind of paycheck and healthcare benefits.
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Not sure if the U-Stor-It is deprived of stimulus when you're sharing it with the lead of a Ukrainian nuclear fuzz-grunge band.
Ah yes (Score:2, Troll)
Smartest guys in the world. "Party of science".
When they come off their "dopamine fast" I guess they'll be all refreshed, and ready to figure out some way to not award women's sports trophies to XY people (formerly known as "men").
It is called meditation (Score:3)
The middle class does not have the time to partake because they are, well @ Work!
Just my 2 cents
Re:It is called meditation (Score:4, Funny)
Also referred to as fishing. Contemplate the motions of the bobber in the breeze and the ripples of the water. Shift position in or out of shade to maintain comfort.
If you don't actually want to catch a fish don't bait the hook.
Adult beverages optional.
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I always suspect that 90% of the fishermen along the water are sitting there mostly to get some peace from their nagging wife.
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Suspect no more. It's actually 100%.
I used to run in a big city park, up on a hill. There was a parking lot with a good view of the city, so lots of teenagers making out in cars. But there was usually this older guy parked by himself too. The first time I saw him, he was there, sleeping on my way in. On my way out it looked like he hadn't moved. I almost went over to makes sure he hadn't had a heart attack or something.
After seeing him regularly, I strongly suspect he was just there to get some uninterr
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Re: It is called meditation (Score:2)
And falls asleep.
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And as recent reserch shows again, (Score:1)
meditation is all bullshit.
Hint: EVERYONE sits there like an idiot, wondering why it won't do anything for him, but acting as if it does, to not look like he doesn't get it. Some are just better at talking themselves into believing it actually does something. And some just so it to fuck girls, or say the do it but don't.
Research shows that people who meditate are generally more depressed than people who don't, according to /. news from a few months ago. My guess is that this "Why won't it work?" intensifies
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Correct!
sitting on a dark floor with eyes closed (Score:4, Insightful)
Sitting?
As an old fart I prefer the old style _lying_ in a warm saltwater tank for my sensory deprivation, pardon, dopamine fast.
You mean fapping wildly. (Score:1)
Admit it: There has never been a sensory deprivation tank without cum in it, in the history of mankind. ;)
We just tell the ladies otherwise. O:-)
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Sitting?
As an old fart I prefer the old style _lying_ in a warm saltwater tank for my sensory deprivation, pardon, dopamine fast.
It was cool freshwater before I got in there. Sorry.
Next up... (Score:4, Funny)
Oxygen fasting!
I Sample Single Malt Scotch (Score:2)
Just my 2 cents
Why not... (Score:2)
...Silicon Valley is not the first group to discover that moderating emotions or spending periods trying to feel less can lead to happiness....
... just turn off their smartphones for a week?
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...Silicon Valley is not the first group to discover that moderating emotions or spending periods trying to feel less can lead to happiness....
... just turn off their smartphones for a week?
Because they're only fasting dopamine, they haven't worked out that it's the lack of serotonin after the dopamine that is causing them to feel crappy. This story can be summed up as stopping:
"Good things happen to people who..."
"Good things happen to people who..."
"Good things happen to people who..."
which basically reinforces your point about turning off smartphones.
don't forget this: (Score:4, Funny)
Sitting on a dark floor with eyes closed? (Score:2)
Does the shade of the floor really make a difference if your eyes are closed?
Actually, it does. (Score:2)
Not that this whole thing isn't already insane, in a clinical sense, but ...
Close your eyes while looking at a light. Preferably the sun. Now swich off the light.
You will see it. As your eyelids are thin enough to be somewhat translucent. This is also why you are woken up by bright lights like the sun coming up.
Also, if it is sunlight or a good full-spectrum daylight lamp, your skin produces serotonin and vitamin D when exposed to it.
This is a form of self-torture anyway. The same thing as cutting yourself,
The old adage (Score:3)
"Why are you doing that to yourself?"
"Because it feels so good when I stop."
Eat the rich (Score:2)
More evidence of why we need a wealth tax.
Maybe instead of being so fucking self-absorbed, these people should consider doing something to help someone else.
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I could probably look at your expenditures and find all manner of things to make me say “well that’s just stupid” but it hardly gives me any justification to go around taking your money just because I don’t like how you’ve spe
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The difference is, I pay my taxes because that's the cost of living in a civil society. I'm not trying to find loopholes or dodges or put money off-shore. And the money I get I will spend in my lifetime. If I leave something to my kid, it will be
Re: Eat the rich (Score:2)
In the case of most billionaires, one can point to the goods or services they produced for others to accumulate that money.
Just what is it youâ(TM)ve produced that gives you standing to decide what to do with it?
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That hasn't been true for a long time. Most billionaires produce absolutely nothing. They make their money by owning, not by making.
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This is a natural wealth tax. It's good when wealthy people throw their money away on useless goods and services and thus stimulate the economy, instead of saving their money where it does no good for anyone.
Re: Eat the rich (Score:2)
Why should they? Something tells me you arenâ(TM)t losing any sleep worrying about their problems. Why should they give a fuck about yours?
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But I am worrying about their problems. Their main problem is they're coming closer to getting their heads stuck in a guillotine every day. I don't want to see that happen to anyone.
Because when you care about other people's problems, helping others, it benefits you most of all. That's something so-called "Christian conserv
New: Auschwitz Dopamine Fasting Camp (Score:2)
White torture yesterday, New Age today!
Silicon Valley's Newest Health Fad (Score:2)
Silicon Valley's Newest Health Fad
That sums up the entirety of what I need to know concerning whatever BS this is about.
Classical approach (Score:2)
Though, no price tag, and little to do with Silicon Valley.
Water is Wet (Score:2)
Eating in moderation, getting good / sufficient sleep, and not mentally engaging with things like an ADHD monkey on crack.
Thought these would be obvious to most people, you know, like "water is wet", "fire is hot".
That is a *very* bad idea. (Score:2)
We already know from SSRIsy which cause Dopamine deficiency, that that is a very bad idea.
In essence, it is what causes all those suicides.
Then again, I'm not an enemy of natural selection, if it hits Silicon Valley, instead of innocent kids. ;)
ultimate dopamine fast (Score:2)
And having your friends discover you later because you died of dehydration - on a pile of your shit and urine.
Slamming the needle all the way back and forth (Score:2)
Seriously, humans, what the actual FUCK are you doing!?
Most intelligent people I know spend their lives trying to attain balance in their lives, not seeking out the bleeding-edge extremes of everything.
All I seem to be seeing these days is extreme this and extreme that, in every aspect of our lives, of our entire world.
Is our species losing it's collective mind? Lo
Really? (Score:1)
So basically spending time doing something relaxing like taking a nature walk, something that doesn't demand too much from you but allows your brain to wind down from stress. Something we've been doing for thousands of years. Most people will do this fad for 5 minutes and then get fed and go back to normal.
NNN (Score:1)
Did Joe Rogan mention this on his show? (Score:1)
RF pollution is real. A nice vacation in the National Quiet Zone in W. Va. is what people really need every so often. A room without glass or mirrors and no electronic devices (ditch the smartphone, the people who pressure you into using one aren't really your friends anyway) even like a portable phone is best if you're feeling frazzled. Stop watching the Psyop Machine too, unless you are masochistic or like your sportsball.
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National Quiet Zone in W. Va.
You mean Country Roads isn't playing on a loop?
Watching the world go by.. (Score:2)
Iâ(TM)ve never liked the âoefastâ lifestyle. Loud parties, nightclubs and such arenâ(TM)t my favourite places.. Yep, Iâ(TM)m fairly introvert, quite happy pottering about, and maintaining a good population of garden birds (reading books and watching the escapades of the little birds is intensely relaxing). This has been a refuge from the always on (at work, I definitely run full on) for years.
Itâ(TM)s been researched to death that overstimulation all the time messes with creati
Newest silicon valley trend? (Score:2)
Let me cut to the chase.
"More stupid bullshit."
"probably" makes life more interesting? (Score:2)
"Probably"? Show me the test results of a dopamine elimination or suppression test. "Probably" can setup false expectations. Ask some of the pollsters of the 2016 election.
What complete idiots! (Score:3)
Part of ADHD is that the brain is starved for dopamine which prevents the brain from functioning in a neurotypical manner. How does it make sense to attempt to duplicate that?
They're also idiots because literally anything can trigger the release of dopamine. Eating a cheeseburger? Dopamine. Double clicking on an icon and the program opening? Dopamine. Scratching your balls? Dopamine.
Fucking morons every one of them.
I guess they are giving up on gamification, then. (Score:3)
Camping? (Score:2)