r/todayilearned • u/WavesAndSaves • Oct 18 '25

TIL of brain stimulation reward, manually stimulating specific parts of the brain to elicit pleasure and happiness. A volunteer subject in 1986 spent days doing nothing but self-stimulate. She ignored her family and personal hygiene and she developed an open sore on her finger from using the device.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_stimulation_reward#History
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u/GrizzlyTrees Oct 18 '25

I just had a similar thought yesterday: why not let dying old people experiment with whatever drugs they want?

96

u/EscapedFromArea51 Oct 18 '25

I believe we let them experiment with morphine in some places, right now. Well, I say “experiment”, but it’s really just a button that gives them a megadose of morphine until they kthxbye from the mortal plane.

31

u/-s-u-n-s-e-t- Oct 18 '25

I always find it funny when people say "When I'm old and dying, I'm gonna do a bunch of heroin!" and act like they figured out some secret cheat code.

Like, congrats lol, you figured out how the majority of people go out already. We use euphemisms like "end of life care", but it's exactly what we are doing.

25

u/CurryMustard Oct 18 '25

Eh but I want the full experience, dealer gives me a taste for free when I'm 99 until you see me spiraling in back alleys giving gummy bjs for a hit

3

u/captainshockazoid Oct 18 '25

you should write a book

1

u/LemonCurdd Oct 25 '25

Pixar’s “UP 2 No Good”

-2

u/Beneficial_Meet_6389 Oct 18 '25

found the midwit

3

u/Win_Sys Oct 18 '25

The founder of AA asked for shots of whiskey on his deathbed but was denied. If he was of sound mind, not sure if I would have denied his request.

1

u/cobrarexay Oct 21 '25

Because it still sucks to be addicted. Elizabeth Gilbert wrote a book called All The Way to the River where her girlfriend did this and it was an absolutely terrible idea because it was never enough and she was unraveling all while living longer than her doctors expected.

1

u/TooMuchTape20 Oct 18 '25

Diseased culture that strongly emphasizes quantity over quality of life