Pleasure Activism

Even when we think we’re seeking pleasure, we’re actually driven by the desire to free ourselves from the pain of wanting.

A more resilient and leveraged path is to work with systems instead of fighting them outright.

Lessons of the Balance The relentless pursuit of pleasure (and avoidance of pain) leads to pain. Recovery begins with abstinence. Abstinence resets the brain’s reward pathway and with it our capacity to take joy in simpler pleasures. Self-binding creates literal and metacognitive space between desire and consumption, a modern necessity in our dopam