The Dopamine Hijack
Have you ever picked up your phone just to check one notification, and then, all of a sudden, 45 minutes are gone while you're just scrolling? That's what we call the dopamine hijack. In modern life, we get constant doses of dopamine.
你有没有过这样的经历：只是拿起手机查看一条通知，然后突然之间，45分钟就在你不断滑动屏幕的过程中过去了？这就是我们所说的多巴胺劫持。在现代生活中，我们不断地获取多巴胺。
Dopamine is a chemical in our brain that's related to motivation, rewards, and feeling good. But what if our dopamine system gets overloaded? We lose focus, motivation, and real happiness -the very things dopamine is supposed to help us with. And it's not your fault. Your brain is just doing what it evolved to do, but now, things like notifications, likes, and endless content on the internet are taking advantage of it. The truth is, you're not losing your abilities -your brain has just been 'hacked'.
多巴胺是我们大脑中的一种化学物质，与动力、奖励和愉悦感有关。但如果我们的多巴胺系统过载了会怎样呢？我们会失去专注力、动力和真正的幸福感——而这些恰恰是多巴胺本应帮助我们实现的东西。这不是你的错。你的大脑只是在做它进化后会做的事情，但现在，诸如通知、点赞以及互联网上无尽的内容等事物正在利用这一点。事实上，你并没有失去能力——只是你的大脑被 “黑” 了。
Dopamine isn't just a molecule that makes us feel good. It's like the motivation engine in our brain. In the past, it rewarded us for actions that helped us survive, like finding food, making friends, and reaching goals. But nowadays, our smartphones, social media, streaming services, and online shopping can trigger dopamine. These activities give us instant pleasure without much effort (Lembke, 2021). Here's the problem: When dopamine enters our system too often without us having to work for it, our brain becomes less sensitive to it. This is called "dopamine desensitization." All of a sudden, normal tasks seem boring, hard tasks seem impossible, and we can't pay attention for very long (Alter, 2017).
多巴胺不只是一种让我们感觉良好的分子。它就像是我们大脑中的动力引擎。在过去，它会奖励我们那些有助于生存的行为，比如寻找食物、结交朋友以及实现目标。但如今，我们的智能手机、社交媒体、流媒体服务和网上购物都能触发多巴胺的分泌。这些活动无需我们付出太多努力就能给我们带来即时的愉悦感（伦布克，2021年）。问题在于：当多巴胺在我们无需努力的情况下过于频繁地进入我们的系统时，我们的大脑对它就会变得不那么敏感。这被称为 “多巴胺脱敏”。突然间，正常的任务似乎变得枯燥乏味，困难的任务似乎变得遥不可及，而且我们无法长时间集中注意力（阿尔特，2017年）。
Why does getting instant pleasure ruin our motivation? Because motivation grows when we're looking forward to something, not when we get an immediate reward (Sapolsky, 2017). Our dopamine system developed to reward us when we work hard for something, not when we just consume things easily. Our brain quickly learns that it doesn't need to work hard. Over time, our motivation goes away. Goals that need patience and perseverance, like starting a business, building good relationships, or learning new skills, start to seem tiring and not worth the effort.
为什么即时的愉悦感会毁掉我们的动力呢？因为动力是在我们期待某件事情的时候增长的，而不是在我们获得即时奖励的时候（萨波尔斯基，2017年）。我们的多巴胺系统是为了在我们为某件事情努力奋斗时给予奖励而进化出来的，而不是在我们轻易消费某些东西的时候。我们的大脑很快就会意识到它不需要努力工作。随着时间的推移，我们的动力就会消失。那些需要耐心和毅力的目标，比如创业、建立良好的人际关系或学习新技能，开始看起来让人疲惫不堪，而且不值得为之付出努力。
Here's the funny -but also sad -thing: The chemical that's supposed to make us happy can actually make us feel unhappy. Too much dopamine makes our brain's reward pathways less sensitive. We end up always wanting more but never feeling satisfied (Lembke, 2021). We keep chasing new rewards, like getting another promotion, having more followers, or getting another rush of dopamine. But when we get these things, they never seem like enough. We get stuck in a cycle of always wanting but never really feeling happy.
这有一件既有趣又可悲的事情：这种本应让我们感到快乐的化学物质实际上却会让我们感到不快乐。过多的多巴胺会使我们大脑的奖励通路变得不那么敏感。我们最终总是想要更多，但却永远不会感到满足（伦布克，2021年）。我们不断追逐新的奖励，比如获得另一次晋升、拥有更多的粉丝，或者获得又一次的多巴胺冲击。但当我们得到这些东西时，它们似乎永远都不够。我们陷入了一种总是想要却永远无法真正感到快乐的循环之中。
True happiness doesn't come from quick dopamine boosts. It comes from deep, meaningful relationships, work that makes us feel fulfilled, and real personal growth. These things need us to put in effort, be patient, and focus.
真正的幸福并非来自于快速的多巴胺提升。它来自于深厚而有意义的人际关系、让我们感到满足的工作，以及真正的个人成长。这些事情需要我们付出努力、保持耐心并集中注意力。
翻译：豆包
整理：2025年4月18日于临沧曼听园
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