September 12, 2016

Jon Stewart Interviews George Carlin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCGGWeD_EJk

I nearly neglected to watch the above video with George Carlin and Jon Stewart. I’m glad that I did. I’ve seen the interview before, but a point Carlin made regarding addiction struck home with much more impact this time. To paraphrase, he said that addiction progresses through three stages. In the beginning, your drug of choice is pure pleasure. As you continue to use, it becomes a mixture of pleasure and pain. And in the end, it is pure pain. He said that you’d think we’d quit at that point, but most often that is not the case. Not unless we have an outside intervention or something to live for. I have both of those things in spades, yet keep going back to my deamon with the promise of pleasure. Even if only one out of every ten dances is pure pleasure, it is difficult to extinguish the behavior. Actually, this type of variability provides the most reinforcing reinforcement schedule. However, I do believe I’m on the tail end at this point. I think I’ve entered into third and final stage. I think I’ve finally crossed the threshold into pure pain.