Opioids Made Me Do It

WSJ columnist Lee Gomes writes how we’re powerless to resist the lure of the web. Clicking through sights and sounds at broadband speed

triggers a chemical reaction that makes us feel good, which in turn causes us to seek out even more of it.

The culprits are “opioids”, the brain’s pleasure-enhancing neurotransmitters.

Science has given us greater understanding about our human drives. If 6th –century Pope Gregory had had such knowledge, he might well have listed an eighth deadly sin that would make us stray from the virtuous life. From my post of two years ago:

Modern affluence allows us to sate nearly every appetite. Most Americans live free from hunger, crippling disease, and premature death. But 21st century man craves even more. Our minds need to be perpetually entertained, an eighth sin that the ancients would have listed if they had round-the-clock cable with 500 channels. Universal wi-fi, blackberries and cell-phones, and portable audio, video, and game players have banished boredom forever. Stimulation is available 24/7; life has become Las Vegas.

But resistance is futile. The modern approach is to acknowledge our essential nature, not fight it. For those who want all-Internet-all-the-time, a lifetime supply of opioids can be had for a one-time cost of under $200. © 2008 Stephen Yuen

The Chumby