Seems to suggest the dopamine concentration isn’t about slacking but about levels of focus. Are you goal-oriented to the exclusion of self-awareness, perception, and social behavior?

And are goal-oriented tasks versus areas of life that don’t break down into easily defines goals what we want our brain chemistry to be about?

Task lists and focusing on dopamine production with nutritional supplementation and behavioral conditioning can surely increase productivity but the write up seems to dismiss that there are other focuses for the brain, labeling as “slackers” those with less than goal-focused concentration.

Personally, I think that misses the bigger picture that we’re a lot more than our productivity or goal orientation.

This also skips over the complexity of the dopamine cycle.

It has a connection to addiction, fear, PTSD, and the stress response. Dopamine cycles are very much conditioned by the brain’s stressors. That same high level of dopamine in the frontal lobe can lead to it essentially shutting down.

It’s a lot more than a pleasure chemical. It’s a pay attention chemical, asking you to see the good, bad, and ugly in order to better prepare for them in the future.

A person has to be able to manage their stress as well as the schedule of their dopamine hits for accomplished goals while making room to prioritize other aspects of life that aren’t so easily broken down into wins/losses.

That latter obsession with productivity is one of the cultural obsessions that can add to the stress we all collectively experience due to a lack of attention on the other necessities of life such as self-awareness, perception, and social behavior.

Guess this is to say there’s a lot more here than winners or slackers and an oversimplification of the brain and its mechanics doesn’t help people better understand themselves or each other.