Mason  🏃‍♂️ ✂️

“This has hacked my brain’s reward system” is a path around thinking about what you’re doing *at all.* It is a science-y sounding replacement for “witches did it.”

Mm, I don't know. For me the experience itself does feel (mildly) addictive. The urge to keep refreshing to see what's new, to click my notifications, to keep scrolling even if I'm not that engaged... I think it's fair to describe those as "hacking my brain's reward system"

IMO this can be consistent w the above; just that "hacking my brain's reward system" lacks explanatory power for anything interesting & people don't seem to notice. "I feel a daily compulsion to hug my boyfriend first thing when I get home. He's hacked my brain's reward system."

Ah ok, then maybe my disagreement is just with @primalpoly's model of what causes people's self-reported addiction to Twitter (that I thought you were endorsing), which doesn't fully match my experiencehttps://twitter.com/primalpoly/status/1092064394920349697 …

My read: in any instance where you can say "my brain's reward system has been hacked," you are making choices to meet some need or desire (effectively or ineffectively). People may point to the neurochemical layer when they're uncomfortable w/ the need or ashamed of their choices

In the same way that "my brain's reward system has been hacked" is both arguably true & a pretty useless frame for why one might feel a real compulsion to hug their partner on sight, it's an arguably true & pretty useless frame for why one might eat sugar, go for a run, or tweet

Oh, maybe we do disagree; I don't think the "my brain's reward system has been hacked" framing is useless at all when it comes to Twitter. Noticing the structural features of Twitter that make it so addictive to me was useful in reducing my overconsumption of it.

Okay, but: "I don't think the 'my brain's reward system has been hacked' framing is useless at all when it comes to my boyfriend. Noticing the structural features of my boyfriend hat make him so addictive to me was useful in reducing my tendency to tackle-hug him at the door."