Resisting the Rise of 'Dopamine Culture'

Ted Goia's Insights into the Age of Addiction

A Flowering Shrub, Branch with Yellow Flowers on Old Wood, unknown artist

I have spent the past several weeks thinking about Ted Goia’s 2024 “State of the Culture” Substack post. If you haven’t read it yet, I would argue it is a must-read.

Ted Goia’s 2024 State of the Culture suggests that a “post-entertainment culture”—which he also refers to as a “dopamine culture”—has consumed the entertainment industry and is slowly consuming our world. While large entertainment corporations such as Disney, Paramount, and Sony struggle to survive, companies such as Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube thrive.

But tech companies’ success is not ultimately found through the promulgation of the true, good, or beautiful (though it is true that good and beautiful things can be found on social media, at times). Instead, they foster distraction—and with it, addiction—for their own gain: