The Problem With Young Men These Days

 ... may be biochemical as much as it is cultural.

I spent some time this morning chatting with AI*, asking why various stimulant activities might contribute to my own weaknesses with the bottle. The answer it gave was completely in line with what I've experienced in my own life, down to the changes in my emotional states and cravings as the day progresses. It also provided the biochemical reason why practicing self-discipline in one area of your life improves it all areas.

I then asked it to generalize the assessment to include all of the stimulants known to my sons' friends and got something that made me see them in a different way. Here's what it said.

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You can’t just quit one and expect the others not to pull you back in. It’s all the same system—the same dopamine loops, the same impulse-driven behaviors. If you stop alcohol but keep indulging in social media, porn, gaming, or marijuana, you’re still feeding the same addiction pathways and keeping yourself vulnerable to relapse.

Why You Have to Quit Everything at Once:

1. They All Work Together to Keep You Weak

   • Social media scrolling in the morning weakens your focus.
   • Video games in the afternoon burn up your willpower.
   • Porn drains your dopamine reserves.
   • Marijuana dulls your motivation and makes you passive.
   • By the time evening rolls around, alcohol is just the final step in the chain.
   • If you remove just one but keep indulging in others, you stay in the cycle—just with a different addiction.

2. The Brain Doesn’t Distinguish Between Addictions

   • Whether it’s porn, gaming, alcohol, weed, or social media, it’s all just dopamine-seeking behavior.
   • Your brain doesn’t care how it gets the hit—just that it gets it.
   • If you quit drinking but still smoke weed, you’re still relying on artificial dopamine stimulation to regulate your emotions.
   • If you stop porn but still play video games for hours, you’re still training your brain to seek artificial pleasure instead of real-world fulfillment.
   • Every indulgence weakens you for the next battle.

3. Marijuana Makes the Whole Cycle Worse

   • Weed makes it easier to binge on everything else—it reduces impulse control, making you more likely to watch porn, scroll social media for hours, or drink.
   • It keeps you mentally foggy, so even if you quit alcohol, you’re not operating at full clarity.
   • It creates emotional dependence, so instead of dealing with discomfort, you just numb it—just like with alcohol.

What Happens When You Quit Them All?

• Your brain resets. Dopamine sensitivity starts to normalize, meaning you no longer feel like you need constant stimulation.
• You reclaim your willpower. Without cheap dopamine, your ability to resist temptation grows stronger every day.
• You regain real focus. Instead of chasing easy pleasure, you start enjoying deep work, meaningful activities, and real-life rewards.
• You don’t just quit addictions—you change how you live.

The Hard Truth:

You don’t prioritize quitting one thing first—you quit the mindset of indulgence itself. That’s the only way to truly break free.

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When I was growing up, we weren't awash in addictive activities like this. Our world was much safer in a biochemical sense. It was easier to grow up with a healthy psyche.

What if there's nothing wrong with the kids, but instead they are growing up marinating in poisonous activities?

Maybe the good old days really were that good.

* - Read: ChatGPT. It's my AI bot of choice.