Apparently, your brain does not seek constant pleasure or pain — it seeks balance. As soon as you experience either, your brain works to restore the balance.
Here’s how it works exactly. Dopamine is a chemical released by your brain to motivate you to seek rewards. Without dopamine, you won’t want to eat, you won’t want to drink, you won’t want to live your life. This chemical drives a critical part of our evolution: survival behaviors.
Lets do an experiment. Before you eat anything in the morning, grab a strawberry and eat half of it. You should taste the sweetness even if its just a little. Now, place a pinch of sugar on your tongue and then eat the second half of the strawberry. You’ll likely notice that it doesn’t taste as sweet anymore. This happens because your taste buds quickly adjust to the stronger sweetness of pure sugar, making the strawberry seem less sweet in comparison. But this is how it gets interesting: sometimes all you care about is the pleasure. The more you repeatedly seek pleasure, the less your brain responds to it. Over time, your brain reduces the dopamine it releases, making you crave even more stimulation to feel the same level of satisfaction. This is how addiction develops.
Don’t worry, it still gets interesting. A similar process happens with pain. When you eat spicy food, it activates pain receptors on your tongue. In response, your brain releases endorphins, which are natural painkillers that create a sense of relief and relaxation. In some cases, this can also trigger dopamine release, making the experience enjoyable. This is why some people enjoy spicy food or intense exercise—both can create a natural “high,” often called the runner’s high.
Sadly the fun part stops here. Today, we live in a world where pleasure is highly sought after, while access to it only gets easier and easier. Life also gets easier and easier and your body endures less and less pain.
Do you feel hungry? Order a junk food, get it delivered in 20 minutes. Looking for an exciting adventure? open your favorite streaming app or start your beloved console. Feeling bored? scroll your phone endlessly. Want that new titanium phone? order it online, get it delivered the next day. You can’t afford it? pay it later.
This has been going on and on and on for so long, that your brain becomes desensitized. See, your brain always seeks balance between pain and pleasure. Imagine your brain’s balance between pleasure and pain as the suspension system on a motorcycle. Normally, suspensions absorb shocks to keep the ride smooth, just like your brain helps you handle life’s ups and downs. But what if you kept bouncing up and down on a perfectly smooth road just to feel the suspension working? Over time, the suspension stiffens from overuse. As long as the road stays smooth, you won’t notice a problem. But the moment you hit a real bump—a challenge, a setback, a stressful situation—your stiffened suspension won’t absorb the impact. The ride suddenly feels unbearable. This is what happens when your brain is overstimulated by constant pleasure. When life is too easy and full of instant gratification, your brain adapts by reducing its ability to cope with discomfort. The slightest inconvenience—waiting in line, feeling bored, facing criticism—can feel overwhelming. In a motorcycle, once the suspension becomes too stiff, you may need to repair or replace it. But unlike a motorcycle, your brain can restore itself naturally—by reducing overstimulation, allowing discomfort, and giving it time to reset.
So, it is not pleasure that you are truly seeking, nor is it struggle. So what is it? For me, it’s simple, a smooth ride, no matter the road conditions. And I believe you want the same.