Addiction (in over ten characters)

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1

I read an article a while back, it was about addiction.

In the seventies some dull thinking scientist put a rat in a cage by itself and put food and one water bottle there in the cage and they also put a water bottle spiked with cocaine the the cage. The rat, once he discovered the cocaine spiked water bottle, did nothing but drink from it until he died.

That was the basis of all the addiction literature that came out from that period onward. The consensus that cocaine was physically addictive, blah blah blah.

Some bright guy (a scientist) replicated the experiment recently. Instead of putting the rat alone in the cage, he put in other rats (male and female), a rat wheel, lots of places to do rat stuff, tunnels and compartments, hiding places, nests, plenty of food and water, sex any time they agreed on it, and a cocaine spiked water bottle. Each of the rats tasted the cocaine spiked water bottle ONCE and never drank from it again, they were too busy being rats and enjoying a rat lifestyle.

Makes me wonder about drugs (illegal or legal) and how necessary they would be or how addicting they would be, if instead of creating conditions wherein human beings become addicted to drugs is almost necessary, we took all that money and effort and created a society and social structure that was more HUMANE. Seems to be such a difficult challenge? Understanding that we are all human beings (bio-chemical-mechanical-social-spiritual beings) and creating conditions where people can people, seem so hard to some.

I am told I am an idealist. Head in the clouds. I am to spiritual. I think to much. Feel to much. I write to much. I talk to much. I over communicate. I have all the wrong ideas and none of the best actions. Some how I am corrupting the youth on this web board.

I guess it is the “cocaine” spiked water bottle for me in the little cage I have been placed into. Socratic Hemlock Solution that we all at some point just submit to because Athens is Full of ■■■■. Maybe in-between sips from the cocaine water bottle, I will drink my own piss, for dilution purposes of course. Don’t want to go too fast, just quick enough.

Keep writing, reading and searching brothers and sisters. Don’t give up until you have “corrupted” enough of the world to make the difference you came here to make.

2 Likes
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A good read, thank you. Reminds me of an old song: “I’d Love To Change The World” by a band called Ten Years After. Sadly, I often feel like this world would be a very beautiful place without us humans. Not only the world, but the whole universe.

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I’ve often had cats for pets. Cats have the most addictive personalities I’ve ever seen. If they find something they like they want it all the time. As for humans, I imagine that if they have all their creature comforts met they are less likely to become addicted, but there are examples of people who had the means to have anything they wanted who became severely addicted. Witness Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Elvis Presly, and Marylin Monroe. There are no easy answers to the problem of addiction.

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So true. Every addiction is a form of escapism.
I just don’t know is it worse when you know from what are you running or when you stop seeing the purpose of escape.