But I have seen and felt these problems acutely, and I’ve witnessed others face these problems just the same. I’ve seen my enjoyment of reading and conversations diminish in the temptation to pick up my smartphone.
(from https://mereorthodoxy.com/the-rise-of-hyperpleasures)
That's me, right there. I still read more books than almost anyone I know, but the reading is mostly in little snippets of time. I used to read for hours and hours at a time, not just before going to sleep. It really formed me as a person to a large part.
Regarding the Hyperpleasure Hypothesis, as I'll call it - another huge component (in addition to porn, social media, etc) is food. So much food, nowadays, is fine-tuned to exactly hit the "sweet spot" - the perfect combination of salt, sweet, crunch, etc. I used to scoff at the concept of food addiction, but not anymore.
I'm carnivore now 1, but before that I didn't eat any processed foods for many years. No sodas or sweet drinks, no packaged chips or cookies, etc. But at one point, for some reason (I think I was just handed it at a party) I had a glass of this Tropicana Premium Sunset:
And...it was absolutely amazing. It hit all the right flavor notes, the perfect combination of sweet and a little tangy, smooth to drink. I remember being absolutely floored at how good it tasted, after not having that type of food for years. Almost scary.
Hyperpleasure, indeed.
What works for me is just a blanket "nope" to these foods. Moderation is too stressful. People think they can moderate, but in reality most people can't do it well.
Footnotes
Some previous posts on how carnviore is going for me:
Footnotes