Silbiris on Dopamine - "Mangala on Sundays"

Man’s addiction to nicotine, alcohol and other illicit drugs is well known. Just like the world’s oldest profession, addictive substances have been around in the society for thousands of years.

Yet, our addiction to Dopamine is a new phenomenon.

What the heck is dopamine?

Dopamine was "discovered" in 1958 by Arvid Carlsson and Nils-Ake Hillarp at the National Heart Institute of Sweden. Dopamine is created in various parts of the brain and is critical in all sorts of brain functions, including thinking, moving, sleeping, mood, attention, motivation, seeking and reward. Dopamine controls the "pleasure" systems of the brain. It makes you feel enjoyment, pleasure, and therefore motivates you to seek out certain behaviours, such as food, sex, and drugs.

Research shows that dopamine causes seeking behaviour.

Dopamine causes you to want, desire, seek out, and search. It increases your general level of arousal and your goal-directed behaviour. It makes you curious about ideas and fuels your searching for information.

Dopamine puts you in an ever increasing addiction to the internet, Facebook, twitter and a myriad of other social media connecting us to people around the globe.

Want to look up some information? Just Google what you seek. Want to talk to someone right away? Send a text and they respond in a few seconds. Want to see what your colleagues are up to? Go to Linked In. Want to chat with some faceless gender unknown person? Just create a fake or real account in Facebook and start chatting away. Even declare your love to another Facebook handle who may or may not be from the opposite sex.  It’s a world of instant gratification.

Dopamine starts you seeking, and then you get rewarded for the seeking which makes you seek for more. It becomes harder and harder to stop looking at email, stop texting, or stop checking your cell phone to see if you have a message or a new text.

Not so long ago, Sociologists talked about the possibility of a Digital Divide when the internet was available to only those who could afford a computer, mobile phone or television and information superhighways were being built in the developed world.

They opined that "Being disconnected in the Information Age is not like being deprived of a Mercedes or some other luxury. Being disconnected means being disconnected from the economy and democratic debate."

So where is this digital divide now? Where are the information slow lanes?

The former Australian Labour Government initiated the rolling out of a National Broad Band Network (NBN) at the cost of A$43 billion to the tax payers.  Supposedly, this will improve our lives in terms of Telehealth, Business Connectivity, Telecommuting to work, Remote Learning, Home Entertainment etc..etc.
Even "Yahapalanaya" got into the act by offering free WiFi. Is it to close the gap on digital divide or to reach the 18+ voters who would prefer to "Share" cleverly edited Video Bites of political forums instead of standing in the rain at mass rallies?

What of the other side of the divide in a developing country like Sri Lanka?

The quaint old world of Ceylon our generation was born into had some newspapers, Radio Ceylon with a few channels operating 12 hours a day, and movie theatres dotted around the island. The city dwellers might have tuned into BBC for “up-to-date news”. Villagers  were more bothered about the latest gossip within the village community.

If communication was super urgent like “JVP Appuhamy expired” or “present yourself for an interview on such and such a day”, a Telegram via the Post Office Network efficiently reached most inhabitants within a day two.

Boys and girls listened to “Muwan Pallassa” on the radio. The sophisticated listened to “Jim Reeves on Sunday Choice”. They passed on love notes hand delivered via their best friends to the opposite sex. The sports minded listened to “Bristol Sports News” for the days update on a cricket match played somewhere in the world. Some even had the luxury of listening to the ball-by-ball commentary of a match being played at the GABBA between Australia and West Indies.

Fast forward to where you are right now.

If you are in Sydney, you might be reading (or ignoring) this on Facebook via your iPhone, iPad, Smart TV, Lap Top or some other electronic device in the instant this post is uploaded.

If you are in Colombo or Mardankadawala, you might be ignoring the article but might “Like” the accompanying photo using your 3G mobile phone.

Maradankadawala boys have better things to do. They will be posting” Good Morning. GM, gm” messages to thousands of their FB friends and receive hundreds of “Likes” and a reciprocal “Good Morning, GM, gm” comments; instant gratification. This article is too long to read.

As Kolonnawe Silibiris would say” What digital divide?. Sri Lankan kollo Kello became experts using them digits to send short messages, Them told the parents them mustma havu computer to do homework. The parents took poliyata naya and bought them computers. Then them wanted camera phones. Parents got  them too by hook or crook. Aney, see how their kollo kello study hard was what the parents assumed,  when they saw their kollo kello spending  most of the time in their rooms in front of the new computers and Camera phones.

They are innocently oblivious to their sons and daughter’s real activities. Their  kids might be chatting on FB, exchanging Blue Film web addresses, exchanging their girlfriend’s nude photos taken horengli at those rooms to rent for one hour joints. But, that's another story.

This addiction to dopamine and its side effects are  highlighted  in the article “The Down Side of Social Media” -http://nation.lk/online/2015/06/13/post-watch/

We now live in a  world of instant gratification, a world addicted to dopamine.

 - "Mangala on Sundays”