Chris Johns

The way in which political debate is conducted these days is frankly ridiculous.

I've described the UK, for example.

We're no longer a serious country.

the way in which we change prime minister every 10 minutes, the way in which political debate, political discussion is conducted in this country is ridiculous.

I'd like to get Shane, our old friend from Trinity College, the neuroscientist, on to talk to him about dopamine because I know that plenty of neuroscientists say that this is all to do with the dopamine hits that likes and retweets and reposts gives us and the number of people that read our stuff on Twitter and X and all the other things.

And it creates the outrage, it creates the anger, it creates the division.

And this is what feeds the little dopamine hits to which we have all, all of us become addicted.

And I think we're all going slowly mad because of all of this, or maybe quickly mad.

But I do think that the Royal Colleges of Medicine are on to something.

And I think future generations will look back on what we're doing to ourselves in the same way that we look back on generations of smokers.

Absolutely.

The fattest comment, is it, Jim?

Pardon?

Is this a fattest comment?

Our decision to leave social media has come up, you know, a business cost to us, if you can call it, doing here a business.

Because I used to have thousands of followers on Twitter.

And every time I posted the podcast on Twitter, you know, I could see the numbers tick up as some of those people clicked on the pod.

And I got the dopamine hit because our numbers went up and I got a few likes and I got a few comments.

And it's those sorts of experiences that teach you that this is not healthy.

This being obsessed by numbers, by all of the different ticks, hearts, all the different ways in which we are liked and approved.