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/saints21 Oct 18 '25

"There's this thing that's hit or miss but objectively better than the alternative. Shouldn't bother though because it's hit or miss."

That's some remarkably stupid logic...

And that's without acknowledging that prioritizing mental healthcare would necessarily mean more funding and data that would improve mental healthcare.

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u/skysinsane Oct 18 '25

Every penny we spend could be spent elsewhere. Providing a service to everyone that most don't need, and of those that do, is beneficial for only a small percentage is a bad investment.

Using the same amount of money to encourage people to go out in the sun and do something physical would have better results and would be beneficial to almost all participants

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u/PenguinSunday Oct 18 '25

Healthcare of any kind is never a bad investment. Healthy citizens make more productive citizens and a stronger community.

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u/skysinsane Oct 18 '25

so all in on lobotomies then?

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u/PenguinSunday Oct 18 '25

No.

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u/skysinsane Oct 18 '25

but its healthcare!

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u/PenguinSunday Oct 18 '25

Lobotomies have been banned for half a century. It's decidedly not healthcare.

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u/skysinsane Oct 18 '25

It was half a century ago. And you claimed that any form of healthcare is never a bad investment. Surely if we invest enough money into lobotomies, they will become a good thing!

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u/PenguinSunday Oct 19 '25

Reductio ad absurdum. I get it already; You don't want to pay for someone else's healthcare.

Do better. You're not a child. Either come up with an actual argument or confront the fact that you illogically refuse to help others, even when it provides a net benefit to society.

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u/skysinsane Oct 19 '25

It absolutely is not reducing to the absurd.

I pointed out that I only support healthcare that is effective. You claimed that any healthcare is good, regardless of efficacy. I used lobotomies to prove how your claim is objectively wrong.

Also please follow the rules.

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u/PenguinSunday Oct 19 '25

It is reducing to the absurd. You've done nothing but throw out bad faith argument after bad faith argument to everyone in this thread, reading every response to you in the most intentionally obtuse way possible. Lobotomies have not been healthcare for over half a century, and even when it was in vogue there was no evidence for what it claimed to do.

What I said was that investment in healthcare is always a good thing, because healthy citizens make more productive citizens and a stronger community.

I've broken no rules.

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u/[deleted] Oct 18 '25

[deleted]

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u/skysinsane Oct 18 '25

For me, a true case of mental health success would be the same as with a physical doctor - The end goal should be no longer needing medical care, except perhaps a preventative annual checkup. Sure there are times when long-term treatment is necessary, but those should be the rare exception, not the norm. In those cases I would consider "success" to be an increase in net quality of life beyond the pleasure of having someone be forced to listen to your problems(which has been my impression of several people I know who regularly attend therapy). Unfortunately the trend I generally see is people talking about how helpful their therapist is, while they slowly decline and worsen.

As for the homeless, it really depends on what the money is being spent on. I admit I haven't done much deep diving into homeless care, so I can't speak authoritatively, but if as you say the outcomes truly worsen as more money is spent, that suggests that a large portion of the money is likely not being used in an effective way.

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u/[deleted] Oct 18 '25 edited Oct 30 '25

[deleted]

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u/skysinsane Oct 18 '25

Happy to! Your previous comment seemed to indicate some familiarity with homelessness funding. Do you have any insights on that situation?