Indistractable

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

Only by understanding our pain can we begin to control it and find better ways to deal with negative urges.

‘If satisfaction and pleasure were permanent, there might be little incentive to continue seeking further benefits or advances.’

Aeons of evolution gave you a brain in a near-constant

All behaviours, both traction and distraction, are prompted by triggers, whether internal or external.

Dissatisfaction and discomfort dominate our brain’s default state, but we can use them to motivate us instead of defeat us.

Our ancestors worked harder and strove further because they evolved to be perpetually perturbed, and so we remain today.

Operating under constraints, Bogost says, is the key to creativity and fun.

‘Letter to Menoeceus’, contained in Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers, Book X.