Desperately Seeking...
by Libby Hellmann

Originally posted Sunday, August 16, 2009

There was a fascinating article in Slate the other day about why some of us seem to be addicted to Texting, Twitter, and Facebook. (Btw, childrens' author Laurel Snyder, a self-confessed Twitter addict, describes in Salon what it's like to go cold turkey.) Without getting into too much detail, especially since my science proficiency is shaky, the article says the addiction exists and there's a reason for it: our brains are hard-wired to crave the interaction.

But here's where it gets interesting.

Apparently, we're not Twittering and Texting and FB-ing because it gives us pleasure, or calms us, or in some way pacifies us. Just the opposite.

Remember the tests they did on all those rats, when they discovered they could train them to push a lever repetitively, until they collapsed, just so they could get a tiny release of dopamine? At the time they thought dopamine was a brain chemical that dispensed some kind of happy pill, that it was in charge of the pleasure center in the brain.

Then one of the scientists, Jaak Panksepp, changed his mind.

"Those self-stimulating rats, and later those humans, did not exhibit the euphoric satisfaction of creatures eating Double Stuf Oreos or repeatedly having orgasms. The animals, he writes... were 'excessively excited, even crazed.' The rats were in a constant state of sniffing and foraging.

It is an emotional state Panksepp tried many names for: curiosity, interest, foraging, anticipation, craving, expectancy. He finally settled on seeking... 'Seeking is the granddaddy of the systems.' It is the mammalian motivational engine that each day gets us out of the bed, or den, or hole to venture forth into the world... For humans, this desire to search is not just about fulfilling our physical needs. Panksepp says that humans can get just as excited about abstract rewards as tangible ones. He says that when we get thrilled about the world of ideas, about making intellectual connections, about divining meaning, it is the seeking circuits that are firing... 'the dopamine circuits promote states of eagerness and directed purpose,' Panksepp writes. It's a state humans love to be in.'"

So we seek. That's why some of us constantly check Twitter, emails, and Facebook. The dopamine makes us do it.

But what does this have to do with writing?

Last time I blogged I talked about hating to write. How unequal to the task I usually feel. As I read about "seeking", I kept thinking that writing is a form of seeking. We're always seeking the perfect prose, the most genuine characters, the most compelling plots. I wonder if people like me—who find those tasks difficult—are deficient in dopamine, while those of you who absolutely revel in the process, who say you're addicted to writing, have more of it than you need. You seek, you get dopamine, you keep going. I seek, I don't get dopamine—or enough of it—I struggle.

OK, admittedly, it's a little far out. I may be trying to rationalize something because I like to whine. And bear in mind at the end of the process, when I've finally finished a book or story, I do feel pleasure. It could be the opiates kicking in, the brain neurotransmitters scientists say actually are responsible for pleasure. The joy of finishing a tough job. Or not.

Either way, I think it's an interesting theory. Check out the article. And then tell me what you think.

All content © Libby Fischer Hellmann.