Ep. 270: Depth vs. Distraction
Deep Questions with Cal Newport
00:00
Understanding Psychic Pain: Exploring the Distress of Emotional Discomfort
In the 80s and 90s, I was taught that if a mad scientist injected me with heroin, I would become addicted. But in England, they give heroin to grandmothers during surgeries and they don't become addicts. This shows that there is more to addiction than just substances. The answer lies in the soothing of psychic pain, which is a distressing feeling that comes from our emotional or psychological state. It includes anxiety, unhappiness, shame, grief, loneliness, and hopelessness. These feelings are meant to motivate us to make a change, as they were adaptive in our evolutionary history.
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