01/09 (Tue) TikTok Brain and Dopamine Fast (Host: Sherry)

[Sherry Liao]

Dear YOYOs,

You must have heard of “digital detox”, but have you heard of “dopamine detox”, or “dopamine fast”? Dopamine is a “feel pleasure” hormone associated with our brain’s reward system and addiction. In modern society, the reward pathway in our brain gets activated easily and frequently, especially by all the developing tech gadgets – TVs, smartphones, laptops, gaming consoles… and the videos , music, games, and social media in them.

The Wall Street Journal published an article “TikTok Brain Explained: Why Some Kids Seem Hooked on Social Video Feeds” (sorry this is a pay-to-read article so I cannot include it here), in which research shows that watching short-form video content of “TikTok” is beginning to have an impact on the developing brain of young children and teenagers, shortening their attention span and making it more difficult for the brain to focus on tasks that take longer period of time.


This is not just a problem for children and teenagers, but adults. Besides, the causes of this dopamine rush include but are not limited to technology products. The rewarding stimulus – a piece of cake, a “like” on a post, or the start to your favorite song – stimulates the release of dopamine. But the ceaseless rewarding stimuli around us also makes our brain starts to downregulate our own dopamine production and transmission (or gets the brain’s baseline higher), which may lead to feelings of depression and anxiety.

In response to this dopamine deficiency, a “dopamine fast” has become a new life style trend, which involves cutting oneself off from environment stimuli that may lead to addiction, and recalibrating brain’s stores of dopamine to make one’s pleasure centers more balanced.


So, what do you think of dopamine fast? This coming Tuesday, please join us and let us know what you have to say!

Reference:
The ‘Dopamine Detox’ Is Having a Moment
https://time.com/6284428/does-dopamine-detox-work/

How to Feel Nothing Now, in Order to Feel More Later
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/07/styl ... sting.html

Dopamine fast: 'The hunger and boredom were intense'
https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-50834914.amp

Questions for Discussion:
Session I
Q1. What do you think of the application TikTok? Why is it so popular? What are the benefits of using TikTok? Is it useful or do you think it is just a waste of time?

Q2. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew says in a congressional hearing that he doesn't allow his children to use TikTok app, because it’s against the law in Singapore where they live and, “If they lived here in the United States, I would let them use the under-13 experience (a limited version).” Do you agree? Is TikTok safe for kids to use? If your kids are addicted to TikTok, what would you do?

Q3. In modern society, what do you think are the most addictive things in your daily life? What makes them addictive? What are your countermeasures to them?

Session II
Q4. Dopamine fast (or dopamine detox) is the idea that we are all so overloaded by media and other distractions that we constantly get dopamine "hits", so we have become numb to them. By taking a break we might become more focused and productive when we start doing these regular things again. What do you think of this idea? Do you think it makes sense or it is just unscientific rubbish?

Q5. Have you ever heard of Vipassana or mindfulness? Is dopamine fast any different from them, or is it just a new catchy name? What do you think is the difference among Vipassana, mindfulness and dopamine fast?

Q6. Have you ever tried Dopamine fast or have similar experience? If so, what is your experience? Would you recommend it to others? If not ,would you like to give it a try? The spirit of dopamine fast is to cut off the behavior that not only give you a dopamine hit, but also has a problematic relationship with you. If not to implement it in a too strict way, what things will you prohibit yourself from doing during a dopamine fast, and what will you allow yourself to do?

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Agenda:
6:45 ~ 7:00pm Greetings & Free Talk / Ordering Beverage or Meal / Getting Newcomer’s Information
7:00 ~ 7:10pm Opening Remarks / Newcomer’s Self-introduction / Grouping
(Session I)
7:10 ~ 7:45pm Discussion Session (35 mins)
7:45 ~ 8:00pm Summarization (15 mins)
8:00 ~ 8:05pm Regrouping / Instruction Giving / Taking a 5 Minutes Break (Intermission)
(Session II)
8:05 ~ 8:40pm Discussion Session (35 mins)
8:40 ~ 8:55pm Summarization (15 mins)
8:55 ~ 9:00pm Concluding Remarks / Announcements

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Meeting Date: As shown on the Subject Line
Meeting Time: 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Meeting Venue: 丹堤咖啡 Dante Coffee (Minimum Order $85)
Address: 台北市濟南路三段25號[MAP]-捷運忠孝新生站3號出口步行3分鐘

Important Notes:
1. We advise participants to print out the discussion questions and bring them to the meeting for reference. As for the supporting articles, feel free to print them out, as well, according to your preference.
2. We suggest that participants read the articles and think about the questions in advance.
3. Newcomers should prepare a two-to-three minute self-introduction in English to deliver when called upon by the host before the start of the discussion. The host may also ask you to give brief feedback about the meeting at the conclusion of the meeting.
4. We conduct the entire meeting in English. All participants should have at least moderate English-conversation skills and be able to articulate your ideas for each discussion question.
5. We welcome newcomers and other guests to attend the meetings and join the discussion freely for two times. After that, we hope you will consider becoming a YoYo English Club member. We charge a NT$1500 lifetime membership fee, or NT$1000 for students.

[Luis Ko]

I'm wondering what the differences between TikTok and short videos from Line and YouTube are!? They seem quite the same, don't they? Or what is TikTok exactly??

[Sherry Liao]

I'm wondering what the differences between TikTok and short videos from Line and YouTube are!? They seem quite the same, don't they? Or what is TikTok exactly??

Hi Luis, thank you for raising the question. Yes, I was also wondering what’s the difference between TikTok short videos and short videos from other sources. After reading relevant articles, I came to the conclusion that the problem with a TikTok brain comes from the fact that the video content is short, eye-catching, and has the characteristics of making people watch it repeatedly and becoming addictive. When kids and teenagers get used to this behavior, it might lead to difficulty staying focused for long periods of time.

“Short” and “eye-catching” are both characteristics of TikTok videos, so the problem has been given the name of “TikTok brain”. I believe other short videos with similar characteristics could produce similar results.

[Iris Wu]

For Q5, I am certain that Vipassana (內觀) is no stranger to many YoYo members. It’s a form of meditation practice; a way to help people see things through self-observation.

Personally, I view Dopamine fast or detox as new terms for old concepts. Addiction is nothing new, but what people are addicted to has been evolving. In a broader sense, Vipassana and dopamine fasting share similarities to me. We, as human beings, have always been in pursuit of truth and the meaning of life. However, this pursuit only involves a small percentage of people in any generation, and even among those who claim they are dedicated to detoxification and Vipassana practices, it occupies just a fraction of their life time.