Dopamine
I've always thought the internet craze about "dopamine hacking" was overly reductive. I have read enough different theories of what brain chemicals actually do that I am skeptical that our neurotransmitters have any one specific domain, as much as amateur psychiatrists wish otherwise.
Regardless, I have been obsessed with playing Pokopia for the last few weeks. I think about it constantly, though realistically I know I don't have enough time to play- nor do I have enough unallocated cash at the moment to buy a brand new game console (it only is out for Nintendo Switch 2).
Yesterday I started watching a "Let's Play Pokopia" video on YT to see if it was something I could really vibe with, and yes, it's exactly what I want it to be. I came THIS CLOSE to ordering a Switch 2 with same day delivery from Costco (what a time to be alive!) before stopping myself, and said... "Hey, wait a minute- let me try one of those fake shopping websites."
If you are unaware, there are now websites you can go on and "fake shop," you can go through all the steps of purchasing items sans actually paying or receiving anything. I originally learned about this in the context of disordered eating (with prominently displayed calorie counts), but the idea is the same.
Silly as it sounds, I went on dopamineshopping.com (any of them would have been fine, this was just the one that offered video game consoles) and put a Switch in my cart.. "purchased" as a guest with a made up credit card number, and the rushing blood in the middle of my head finally calmed down.
Maybe the dopamine hackers have a point.