Utopia and Addiction
Growing up as a kid, I’ve often wondered if the literal meaning of Utopia could actually be a possibility somewhere in the near future. And if it somehow could be a reality, what would be the things that would make it perfect? Obviously, there would be no crime, no hate, and no jealousy. Which also made me wonder whether there would be addiction among people.
How I mentioned the term addiction aligned with crime and hate may seem absurd. Because to some extent, we all are addicted to something. And again this may make you wonder why I think of all sorts of addiction as a bad thing. I don’t actually, it’s just that all addictions may have the same root, be it debauchery or video games, and it’s the release of dopamine. The dopamine hormone, however, works on a reward and motivation principle. And there’s nothing bad about it except that it can get us addicted to pretty much anything very easily. This fact, however, gave me an epiphany that a Utopia can be created by means of eliminating addiction. Or in other words, limiting the release of dopamine to an extent that people would stop doing bad things. But that is just another way of saying that in order to create a perfect world, people should be lifeless even while alive, which, apparently, isn’t really what we want. Because dopamine, would limit our desire or craving towards some things, be it good or bad. Only if it was possible to inhibit the secretion of dopamine whenever people would think of doing something bad, the idea could work.
The world as we see it is too much reliant on dopamine. To understand how far dopamine can entice us into doing certain things, a small example with a lab rat would suffice. In that experiment, when the rats were kept in an isolated small cage, they had chosen to intake drugs rather than food, when the choice between food and drugs was provided, and at a certain stage, they would just starve to death. But, recent studies conducted on a broader spectrum have shown otherwise. Where rats weren’t put in a cage and rather kept in an environment with ample space and a lot of other rats; therefore it could be called a Utopia for rats, and there, the rats had chosen to intake the drug only at a recreational level. This shows us that addiction has more to do with than just dopamine, even if that might be the root of it. The social nature of rats, when obstructed by researchers, would cause them to suffer from depression and that would force it to incline toward the morphine or numbing agent. And the socially separated rats would choose dopamine as a shield to keep themselves excluded from the agony and more involved in the enticing effects of dopamine. Just like when we listen to loud music just so that we don’t have to hear the noises which would otherwise give us a headache.
Even though research is going on with a lot of emphasis on finding the solution to what we want; and an ideal example which might be something achieved through genetic manipulation, a utopia isn’t the primary concern.
The definition of a perfect world varies more or less for almost everyone. It is high time people raised their moral barriers and fought negativity to create the utopia they want in the environment that surrounds them.