Notes on text messages and dopamine:
It was probably a few years ago when I realized how much I disliked texting, not because I am a "bad texter" but because as a mechanism, it felt like I was getting high, when I didn't want to, and I realize now that everyone is kind of bound to this system of dopamine drip. I had these two girls today, that I had never called, and I wanted to call both of them, but I was like the odds on them answering are like 15%. Half the time they don't answer, even if they know me! The other half they text back. So I texted.
But it really is like a slot machine. The flow and consistency of a phone call doesn't have that effect on me. It's like just a good feeling, that eventually goes away. Texting is like doing coke all afternoon. You get that little hit or nothing at all, and then start the whole process over. Had some deeper thoughts about attachment and dopamine running together, and how we have all been programmed and rewired to equate love/lust/passion/connection/intimacy with texts, essentially quick dopamine hits. And, for me, being aware of this, and not really texting very much in general, people who are on dating apps, plus group chats, plus whatever else, they are mainlining this shyt all day.