Several weeks ago I read a nonfiction book that I had bought and read in 1992 and not since. When I finished it, I felt peculiarly rested and happy, so much so that it surprised me when the feeling continued until the end of the day. I won’t name the book because among other things it involves church politics, and I don’t talk about politics in this space. What matters is that it put me at ease vis-a-vis some issues I’ve had with religion for a long time. Some books, while interesting, put me on edge. This one, while also interesting, put me at ease.
It took two days’ worth of easy-chair time to go through it. I didn’t rush; I learned back now and then and pondered certain of its many points, and stopped a couple of times to look up things that might have changed since 1992. I felt it was a worthwhile use of my time.
What I didn’t expect was a day-long dopamine rush.
Dopamine is a brain chemical. It’s what makes us feel good. I’ve known that for years. What I didn’t know is that the slower you do something that generates dopamine, the longer the dopamine lasts, sometimes long after you finish what you’re doing. Conversely, when you scroll through your phone or tablet hunting for memes, silly videos, or quick, short text posts that make you smile, the dopamine rises fast, and then goes away just as quickly. The faster the rise, the faster the fall. This even has a name: fast dopamine. Do too much fast dopamine, and all that falling after the brief hits can actually lower your background dopamine levels and drive you to depression or addiction.
What you really want instead is slow dopamine. The articles I’ve seen (like this one) emphasize slow pleasures over fast pleasures. But more than that, slow dopamine sticks around longer if you put effort into something that pleases you. The more effort and the more time expended in something you enjoy means that the dopamine generated will stick around longer and fade away a great deal more slowly.
I tested this again a couple of days ago when I constructed a PC board kit name badge that puts on its own light show. Building something that requires sharp-tip soldering is best done slowly, and sometimes requires a biggish frame magnifier. I took it easy, savored the smell of smoky core-rosin rising in wisps from the PCB, and periodically kicked back and remembered the fun I had with my SF nerd friends in the 1970s. The badge honors the 50th anniversary of an SF club I helped create back in 1975 (see the link above) and when it was over, I was practically glowing. The dopamine didn’t last quite as long as that generated by several hours reading a good book, but I felt good for another two hours at least.
I’m older than the Internet (hell, I’m older than the transistor) and whereas I check a weather app each morning and sometimes scan a news feed i’ve customized away from tantrum politics, I don’t sit around doomscrolling or watching TikTok for hours on end. I read, I write, I program, I exercise, and I build things, all of which require focus and effort. I trade emails with my friends. There are life events that will keep your dopamine down—I’ve just been through a major one of those—but between tragedies, stay busy with positive things that require effort and take awhile. The slower and more energetic your dopamine onset, the longer it will last. I’ve been there. It works. Try it.
