Death by dialed up dopamine: a rant

Texting while driving destroys bodies.
Texting while living destroys souls.

If you give a child her own soundtrack, a world where she can alter reality, and a device that feeds a dopamine loop during virtually all her waking hours, you can create the ultimate consumer.

Photo by Steve Paine, CC

One who can no longer question because she has no frame of reference.
One who craves but cannot define her desires, primed for a life of seeking favors from strangers.
One who has no idea, and no desire to learn, how she is connected to the land, to the water, to the air, to the bacteria in the dirt and her gut.

Filling a dopamine void drives much of our behavior--but it does not drive happiness.

If you want to help raise a grounded adult who knows what she wants, not what others would have her buy, and who knows enough to care for this world which we have through grace alone, you need to show her what's real.

Life on a classroom windowsill.

If all you're selling is obeisance, trivia crack, and a sheepskin that can be bought online now, you're not a teacher.

You're an enabler.

If you're doing it right, someone is going to try to stop you.

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