Yesterday, I shared how the the cues that prime the dopamine pump during social media use—unpredictability, incomplete satisfaction, and the cues of potential rewards—fuel our want for quick fix of Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram (or Twinstabook as I call it). This same brain chemistry fuels other reward-seeking behaviors, too.

Your brain on gambling.

Unpredictability: Pull the lever and watch the images spin; wonder whether they’ll come up three cherries.

Incomplete Satisfaction: The machine does what the machine does, but three cherries is not your lot. Still, it’s an incremental win. A buck or two. Enough to reinforce the notion that, yes, there really are rewards locked in this puzzle box. What’s the chemical reinforcing that notion? Dopamine.

Cues of Potential Rewards: The woman at the machine next to you lets out a little squeal of excitement. She’s won a couple-hundred, maybe more. If she can do it, can’t you?

What’s more, it’s that flow of dopamine that drives our desire to chase returns when we’re down on our luck at slot machine or seated or blackjack table. Dopamine—she has such a twisted sense of humor.

Your brain on virtual sex.

We’re all adults here. Let’s watch porn work. (Which is not to say, “Let’s watch porn.”)

Unpredictability: Click the link and what do you get? Woman or man? Hourglass or pear?

Cues of Potential Rewards (yes, we’re flipping the script a bit here): What is porn if not the personification of potential reward?

Incomplete Satisfaction: How much communion or connection is there through a screen? Sure you get that Whizz-Bang cocktail of norepinephrine, endorphins, oxytocin, and dopamine if you take porn-use all the way to the logical conclusion. But how long does that Whizz-Bang rush last before the guilt sets in?

In a world of instant access and instant gratification, our dopamine pumps are primed by the prospect of virtual satisfaction, particularly sexual satisfaction. What’s more, the spigots of those pumps are opened wide by the unpredictability, partial satisfaction, and reward cues that keep us chasing the mystery locked in another night of naked bodies.

Your brain on dopamine.

Whatever the habit, attachment, coping mechanism, or addiction, know that dopamine is behind the scenes motivating the behavior. And the higher the degree of unpredictability, the more potential rewards are cued and sporadically given, the less complete the satisfaction is, the more dopamine works to lock in this message: You just hit the jackpot and doesn’t it feel good to hit the jackpot and isn’t there always another jackpot to win?

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A Word About These Posts

Over the next year, I’m creating a series of connected pieces, each of which will build on the previous posts. It’s a sober stream of consciousness that began with my Waking series. Where will it go? You’ll have to follow along to find out. So, if you’re not already signed up to receive my daily emails, you know what to do. (And while you’re here, consider picking up my books, Coming Clean and The Book of Waking Up.)