Can you explain this strategy more? In theory a random reinforcement schedule shouldn’t create any less dopamine when rewarded, and should be the most resistant to extinction. I’m having trouble understanding what you mean by dopamine neutral I think.
I think this is the idea: people can form habits, and habits have friction—you’ll keep doing them even if they’re painful (they oppose momentary preferences, as opposed to reflective preferences). But you probably won’t adopt a new habit if it’s painful. Therefore, to successfully build a habit that changes your actions from momentary to reflective, you should first adopt a habit, then make it painful—don’t combine the two steps.
Checking your userpage and checking your karma notifications are both random reinforcers, ergo switching from one to the other is dopamine neutral. Step one is to extinguish the behavior of checking your userpage by making that dopamine neutral behavior swap. Step two is decrease notification frequency.
Can you explain this strategy more? In theory a random reinforcement schedule shouldn’t create any less dopamine when rewarded, and should be the most resistant to extinction. I’m having trouble understanding what you mean by dopamine neutral I think.
I think this is the idea: people can form habits, and habits have friction—you’ll keep doing them even if they’re painful (they oppose momentary preferences, as opposed to reflective preferences). But you probably won’t adopt a new habit if it’s painful. Therefore, to successfully build a habit that changes your actions from momentary to reflective, you should first adopt a habit, then make it painful—don’t combine the two steps.
Checking your userpage and checking your karma notifications are both random reinforcers, ergo switching from one to the other is dopamine neutral. Step one is to extinguish the behavior of checking your userpage by making that dopamine neutral behavior swap. Step two is decrease notification frequency.