What a great and helpful article!! Thanks so much!! This makes a lot of sense. I always feel better after I've hit publish or make strides in my projects. You also helped me make a HUGE connection on an unrelated topic. Thank you! Your discussion of the limbic system in isolation helps me connect the dots to my experiences as child attending an ACE school, a Christian private and homeschooling system that is structured on the harmful isolation of children due to to independent, self-paced structure and the fact that the children are in individual cubicles for 7 hours every school day for all grades,1st-12th. Now, correct me if I'm wrong but this system narrows the dopamine pathways. When a child’s world is tightly controlled and isolated, like in an ACE school, the brain learns to assign dopamine to compliance, correct answers as defined by the system, adult approval, avoidance of punishment, internalizing the system’s worldview and withdraws from curiosity, questioning, independent reasoning, alternative viewpoints, and social diversity. And with no alternative models and no safe channel for dissent, this system of 'educational' isolation in childhood is the perfect environment for indoctrination. Toss in some operant conditioning (aka religious authoritarian parenting) and you have a complete, self-reinforcing loop.
And I cannot stress how important the revelation you just had is... you are absolutely right. That scenario essentially strips a child of agency. Agency is how we move through the world and learn what responses our behaviour elicits. Without it, you can become driven by external "signs," thrust and pulled from one stimulus to the next. So when you say it "narrows the dopamine pathways," you're absolutely right. It makes the system driven by limbic oscillations. Agency lives in the cortical pathway.
Research actually distinguishes between the two by calling a limbic-driven brain a "sign tracker" and a balanced one a "goal tracker." Sign trackers are more at risk of ADHD, addiction etc. Taking agency away from a child - not responding to their needs, not giving their behaviour some feedback - tends to create "sign tracker" tendencies.
I had planned on writing an essay on "sign trackers" vs "goal trackers" in the context of responsive parenting, but the idea of the traditional schooling system being part of the problem never entered my mind. It clearly has a large and dangerous role to play as well.
Thank you again for such a thought-provoking comment.
It definitely explains a lot of things, include the prevalence of substance addiction I see common with others who had similar childhood experiences. Today, there's still about 6,000 ACE schools worldwide where the child learn in isolation and aren't properly socialized, but aren't scrutinized because of the religious factor. But it's a grave disservice to children. From experience, I can tell you that non-traditional school environments common among religious authoritarian homes tend to be more detrimental to a child's development than a public school, although there are significant drawbacks there as well--that I'm about to go public with in my next article.
I love that phrased it as "sign trackers" vs "goal trackers," as that makes so much sense. I look forward to reading that essay! Despite the fact that this is clearly a situation to avoid, there is evidence that the trauma can lead to various cognitive enhancements, like the pattern-weaver cognitive style, which I feel dovetails with the sign vs goal tracking that you mentioned. I just wrote this article on it, inspired by my own experiences but wholly grounded in science, if you're interested... https://open.substack.com/pub/katheryngreenleaf/p/the-patternweaver-mind-how-trauma?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
In this piece, you argue that creating triggers internal dopamine and agency, whereas consuming mainly triggers external dopamine and passive reward, nudging us into endless loops of consumption instead of productive engagement. I found the distinction between internal versus external motivation really clarifying, and it made me rethink how much of my time on social feeds is actually reinforcing habits I don’t intend.
Creating is 🗝️ to being happy. I hear you. I'm luckily not addicted to my phone because I thrive off living in the moment. I also love to dance with discipline and notice how good it is for me! Creating instead of consuming..being instead of doing...receiving instead of asking. It's all a flow 🌊
That urge to grab my phone in any 'quiet' moment is strong. Standing in a line. In a waiting room. Sitting outside. I'm consciously trying to let a moment stand. As is. Without a cheap dopamine hit. Gosh it's hard. Your essays on the science behind it always make me feel better, that there's a reason for it and all is not lost. Thank you for such a lovely read! Learning to put the phone/tablet/laptop away more because of your writing. 💕
Thank you for this thoughtful and clearly written piece. The way you distinguish between creating and consuming adds an important layer of understanding to how attention and motivation work.
The difference between attention being captured versus held feels so true. I’m learning how much more grounded and fulfilled I feel when I’m creating, moving my body, cooking, writing, being present, rather than consuming to numb or fill space.
“Value with meaning” stays with me. Thank you for naming something many of us feel but rarely slow down enough to notice.🌹🦉🪶🪷
Thank you so much for linking to this! I just read it and it is a fantastic piece of writing. And the message behind it is so important.
When you said this... "I’ve started to realise that the most meaningful shift happens when creation begins to outweigh consumption. When writing replaces scrolling. When thinking replaces reacting. When we sit with our own thoughts long enough to shape them, rather than immediately reaching for someone else’s." ... brilliant.
You're already intuitively recognising the brain's inherent desire to create - to use those crucial systems that fuel creativity (and keep it protected).
Aw thank you for your kind words and taking the time to read it. Means so much as a newbie. I am looking forward to your future publications. Hope you have a good week ahead 😀
Thank you Juliette for this. What resonated most for me was your distinction between limbic spikes that ask what feels good now and cortical dopamine that quietly asks why this matters. That framing helped me understand why certain activities leave me depleted even when they’re “rewarding,” while others feel grounding despite effort. It’s not pleasure versus discipline — it’s context versus isolation.
One thought your piece stirred for me is how much modern life systematically decouples effort from meaning. We’ve built environments where reward is instant, quantified, and externally validated, while meaning is slow, internally generated, and often invisible. In that sense, excessive consumption isn’t a personal failure of self-control — it’s a predictable outcome of a world that bypasses the cortex. Creating, then, becomes a quiet form of resistance: not against pleasure, but against having our motivation outsourced. That reframes creation not as productivity, but as cognitive sovereignty — choosing to stay and build rather than run.
"Cognitive sovereignty" is exactly the right framing. You're absolutely right that modern environments systematically decouple effort from meaning. The infrastructure is designed to deliver limbic spikes in isolation, bypassing the cortical systems that would normally supply context and perspective. It's not a bug, it's the business model.
What strikes me most about your framing is that it shifts the question from "How do I resist temptation?" to "How do I reclaim authorship over what drives me?" That's a fundamentally different orientation... one that treats creation not as virtuous suffering, but as the only way to keep your motivation legibly your own.
Thank you for such a generous response. I really appreciate how you framed authorship — that shift away from resisting temptation toward reclaiming agency feels like the heart of it. Your work keeps giving language to things many of us feel but can’t quite articulate yet.
I like the idea of guiding our own energy and attention when we create. I enjoy drawing from a meditative state; it feels like intuition is guiding the energy toward something meaningful. Your daughter’s drawings are inspiring. My son drew constantly when he was younger, and I was always amazed by how direct and unselfconscious his lines were. That’s the state I’m trying to get back to and feel it’s a good thing for my brain.
When we’re immersed, the ego drops away, and so too does self-consciousness. And you could argue that self-consciousness runs counter to creativity. If you’re always second-guessing your output, that surely stymies the creativity of that output.
I admire you for striving to return to that state. (I constantly try to do the same.) We should all strive to be like your young son!
Thank you for sharing this detailed piece on how our brain functions when creating vs consuming.
It is very helpful and explains why so many are glued to their phones, which I try mindfully not to do e.g. when out with family / friends (not hard) yet it is when having some 'me time' it is the hardest & I've reflected on this a lot since last year & this explained it in so much depth! Before reading this, heck 10 minutes ago, I simply put it down to 1. A lot of my work is on there, scheduling lessons, business emails, research, writing ...
2. I use it as a tool to progress in my linguistic journey
3. We live abroad & so I like to keep in touch with loved ones ...
Yet... I still had a sense of it consuming my time... So I started doing 3 things:
1. not looking at my phone for at least 30 minutes in the morning.
2. After dropping our daughter to preschool, engaging with other parents I get on with for longer (helps my Spanish even more)
3. More recently taking walks alone (on top of our daily family walks / time out) & sitting in nature before the go- go -go routine & this has helped so much, plus I love nature!
I'm going to save this post & share!
P.s My husband read a similar article with his student on Mindful eating but I've recommend this as it definitely is the best I've read around consumption vs creating! It's brilliant! ✨️✨️✨️
Thank you for such a kind and insightful comment! I truly admire how thoughtfully you've been working on your relationship with your phone.
Your three strategies are spot-on, especially the morning phone delay and the solo nature walks. (Those create space for your cortex to engage with the world directly rather than through the filter of a screen, as you already intuitively knew.)
And it sounds like you've naturally discovered something important: the phone isn't inherently the problem (clearly your work, language learning, and family connection are all valuable). It's when the same device becomes the path to passive consumption that things get a little murky (if not dangerous). Your brain can't always tell the difference between "I'm opening this to schedule a lesson" and "I'm opening this to scroll."
That morning boundary is brilliant because it gives you a clear line: cortex engaged first, phone second.
I’m so glad you found some of this helpful. Thank you so much for reading and for taking the time to share your reflections. (And for passing it along to your husband!)
What a great and helpful article!! Thanks so much!! This makes a lot of sense. I always feel better after I've hit publish or make strides in my projects. You also helped me make a HUGE connection on an unrelated topic. Thank you! Your discussion of the limbic system in isolation helps me connect the dots to my experiences as child attending an ACE school, a Christian private and homeschooling system that is structured on the harmful isolation of children due to to independent, self-paced structure and the fact that the children are in individual cubicles for 7 hours every school day for all grades,1st-12th. Now, correct me if I'm wrong but this system narrows the dopamine pathways. When a child’s world is tightly controlled and isolated, like in an ACE school, the brain learns to assign dopamine to compliance, correct answers as defined by the system, adult approval, avoidance of punishment, internalizing the system’s worldview and withdraws from curiosity, questioning, independent reasoning, alternative viewpoints, and social diversity. And with no alternative models and no safe channel for dissent, this system of 'educational' isolation in childhood is the perfect environment for indoctrination. Toss in some operant conditioning (aka religious authoritarian parenting) and you have a complete, self-reinforcing loop.
You are most welcome!
And I cannot stress how important the revelation you just had is... you are absolutely right. That scenario essentially strips a child of agency. Agency is how we move through the world and learn what responses our behaviour elicits. Without it, you can become driven by external "signs," thrust and pulled from one stimulus to the next. So when you say it "narrows the dopamine pathways," you're absolutely right. It makes the system driven by limbic oscillations. Agency lives in the cortical pathway.
Research actually distinguishes between the two by calling a limbic-driven brain a "sign tracker" and a balanced one a "goal tracker." Sign trackers are more at risk of ADHD, addiction etc. Taking agency away from a child - not responding to their needs, not giving their behaviour some feedback - tends to create "sign tracker" tendencies.
I had planned on writing an essay on "sign trackers" vs "goal trackers" in the context of responsive parenting, but the idea of the traditional schooling system being part of the problem never entered my mind. It clearly has a large and dangerous role to play as well.
Thank you again for such a thought-provoking comment.
It definitely explains a lot of things, include the prevalence of substance addiction I see common with others who had similar childhood experiences. Today, there's still about 6,000 ACE schools worldwide where the child learn in isolation and aren't properly socialized, but aren't scrutinized because of the religious factor. But it's a grave disservice to children. From experience, I can tell you that non-traditional school environments common among religious authoritarian homes tend to be more detrimental to a child's development than a public school, although there are significant drawbacks there as well--that I'm about to go public with in my next article.
I love that phrased it as "sign trackers" vs "goal trackers," as that makes so much sense. I look forward to reading that essay! Despite the fact that this is clearly a situation to avoid, there is evidence that the trauma can lead to various cognitive enhancements, like the pattern-weaver cognitive style, which I feel dovetails with the sign vs goal tracking that you mentioned. I just wrote this article on it, inspired by my own experiences but wholly grounded in science, if you're interested... https://open.substack.com/pub/katheryngreenleaf/p/the-patternweaver-mind-how-trauma?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
Fantastic essay. Thank you so much for directing me towards it. You’re absolutely right - it does align with the sign-tracker/goal-tracker theory.
It’s already made me change how I’m approaching this piece.
Subscribed and can’t wait to read more!
In this piece, you argue that creating triggers internal dopamine and agency, whereas consuming mainly triggers external dopamine and passive reward, nudging us into endless loops of consumption instead of productive engagement. I found the distinction between internal versus external motivation really clarifying, and it made me rethink how much of my time on social feeds is actually reinforcing habits I don’t intend.
Thank you for such a thoughtful and introspective comment.
I’m so glad it helped you view things a little differently. (I had a similar change in awareness when I learned it as well.)
Sometimes that’s all it takes to make change: a bit of awareness.
Creating is 🗝️ to being happy. I hear you. I'm luckily not addicted to my phone because I thrive off living in the moment. I also love to dance with discipline and notice how good it is for me! Creating instead of consuming..being instead of doing...receiving instead of asking. It's all a flow 🌊
Good on you! It sounds like you’ve been listening to your intuition already and have found the right balance 😊.
I really appreciate you taking the time to comment.
That urge to grab my phone in any 'quiet' moment is strong. Standing in a line. In a waiting room. Sitting outside. I'm consciously trying to let a moment stand. As is. Without a cheap dopamine hit. Gosh it's hard. Your essays on the science behind it always make me feel better, that there's a reason for it and all is not lost. Thank you for such a lovely read! Learning to put the phone/tablet/laptop away more because of your writing. 💕
Thank you for this thoughtful and clearly written piece. The way you distinguish between creating and consuming adds an important layer of understanding to how attention and motivation work.
Thank you for such kind words. I'm so glad you found it of use.
It's comments like yours that give meaning to value.
This really resonated.
The difference between attention being captured versus held feels so true. I’m learning how much more grounded and fulfilled I feel when I’m creating, moving my body, cooking, writing, being present, rather than consuming to numb or fill space.
“Value with meaning” stays with me. Thank you for naming something many of us feel but rarely slow down enough to notice.🌹🦉🪶🪷
Thank you for such a kind and thoughtful comment. I'm so glad it resonated with you.
You've articulated something many (including myself) seem to struggle with... not being able to slow down enough to notice the "meaning."
Your list is a fulfilling one indeed - lots of meaning there 😊.
Ill be subscribing and reading your work because i really enjoyed reading this and more importantly it was so nice to be able to take something away.
I have made a reference to the need for creating more than we consume in one my recent articles here
https://open.substack.com/pub/mehradhashemloo/p/changing-platforms-doesnt-change?r=4pzz3l&utm_medium=ios&shareImageVariant=overlay
Thank you so much for linking to this! I just read it and it is a fantastic piece of writing. And the message behind it is so important.
When you said this... "I’ve started to realise that the most meaningful shift happens when creation begins to outweigh consumption. When writing replaces scrolling. When thinking replaces reacting. When we sit with our own thoughts long enough to shape them, rather than immediately reaching for someone else’s." ... brilliant.
You're already intuitively recognising the brain's inherent desire to create - to use those crucial systems that fuel creativity (and keep it protected).
Thank you again. You've got a new subscriber!
Aw thank you for your kind words and taking the time to read it. Means so much as a newbie. I am looking forward to your future publications. Hope you have a good week ahead 😀
Thank you Juliette for this. What resonated most for me was your distinction between limbic spikes that ask what feels good now and cortical dopamine that quietly asks why this matters. That framing helped me understand why certain activities leave me depleted even when they’re “rewarding,” while others feel grounding despite effort. It’s not pleasure versus discipline — it’s context versus isolation.
One thought your piece stirred for me is how much modern life systematically decouples effort from meaning. We’ve built environments where reward is instant, quantified, and externally validated, while meaning is slow, internally generated, and often invisible. In that sense, excessive consumption isn’t a personal failure of self-control — it’s a predictable outcome of a world that bypasses the cortex. Creating, then, becomes a quiet form of resistance: not against pleasure, but against having our motivation outsourced. That reframes creation not as productivity, but as cognitive sovereignty — choosing to stay and build rather than run.
This is beautifully put.
"Cognitive sovereignty" is exactly the right framing. You're absolutely right that modern environments systematically decouple effort from meaning. The infrastructure is designed to deliver limbic spikes in isolation, bypassing the cortical systems that would normally supply context and perspective. It's not a bug, it's the business model.
What strikes me most about your framing is that it shifts the question from "How do I resist temptation?" to "How do I reclaim authorship over what drives me?" That's a fundamentally different orientation... one that treats creation not as virtuous suffering, but as the only way to keep your motivation legibly your own.
Thank you for this - it's such a sharp point.
Thank you for such a generous response. I really appreciate how you framed authorship — that shift away from resisting temptation toward reclaiming agency feels like the heart of it. Your work keeps giving language to things many of us feel but can’t quite articulate yet.
I like the idea of guiding our own energy and attention when we create. I enjoy drawing from a meditative state; it feels like intuition is guiding the energy toward something meaningful. Your daughter’s drawings are inspiring. My son drew constantly when he was younger, and I was always amazed by how direct and unselfconscious his lines were. That’s the state I’m trying to get back to and feel it’s a good thing for my brain.
This is such an important point.
When we’re immersed, the ego drops away, and so too does self-consciousness. And you could argue that self-consciousness runs counter to creativity. If you’re always second-guessing your output, that surely stymies the creativity of that output.
I admire you for striving to return to that state. (I constantly try to do the same.) We should all strive to be like your young son!
Thank you again for such a thoughtful comment.
Thank you for sharing this detailed piece on how our brain functions when creating vs consuming.
It is very helpful and explains why so many are glued to their phones, which I try mindfully not to do e.g. when out with family / friends (not hard) yet it is when having some 'me time' it is the hardest & I've reflected on this a lot since last year & this explained it in so much depth! Before reading this, heck 10 minutes ago, I simply put it down to 1. A lot of my work is on there, scheduling lessons, business emails, research, writing ...
2. I use it as a tool to progress in my linguistic journey
3. We live abroad & so I like to keep in touch with loved ones ...
Yet... I still had a sense of it consuming my time... So I started doing 3 things:
1. not looking at my phone for at least 30 minutes in the morning.
2. After dropping our daughter to preschool, engaging with other parents I get on with for longer (helps my Spanish even more)
3. More recently taking walks alone (on top of our daily family walks / time out) & sitting in nature before the go- go -go routine & this has helped so much, plus I love nature!
I'm going to save this post & share!
P.s My husband read a similar article with his student on Mindful eating but I've recommend this as it definitely is the best I've read around consumption vs creating! It's brilliant! ✨️✨️✨️
Thank you for such a kind and insightful comment! I truly admire how thoughtfully you've been working on your relationship with your phone.
Your three strategies are spot-on, especially the morning phone delay and the solo nature walks. (Those create space for your cortex to engage with the world directly rather than through the filter of a screen, as you already intuitively knew.)
And it sounds like you've naturally discovered something important: the phone isn't inherently the problem (clearly your work, language learning, and family connection are all valuable). It's when the same device becomes the path to passive consumption that things get a little murky (if not dangerous). Your brain can't always tell the difference between "I'm opening this to schedule a lesson" and "I'm opening this to scroll."
That morning boundary is brilliant because it gives you a clear line: cortex engaged first, phone second.
I’m so glad you found some of this helpful. Thank you so much for reading and for taking the time to share your reflections. (And for passing it along to your husband!)