Comments on: The Compliance Recipe, Part 3: Intermittent Rewards

By: T.

T. — Mon, 19 May 2008 22:24:53 +0000

All around good post, I had to comment again. But I feel as though it would have been a cleaner analysis if you had made clean distinctions between positive and negative reinforcement, and positive and negative punishment.

That’s a pretty good constructive criticism, man.

By: abhs

abhs — Mon, 19 May 2008 21:52:26 +0000

It is easy for the weak to fall in love with bipolar people because bipolarism is basically operant conditioning taken to an extreme. By vacillating between rewards and punishments, the subject experiences dopamine rushes and subsequent withdrawals. And we all know that we desire something much more when it is taken away then when it is freely given to us. Extreme operant conditioning (bipolarism, gambling, drugs, alcohol) becomes an obsession when the subject begins - as they are inclined to given the absurd validations and retractions - to replace all other sources of satisfaction, aka dopamine stimulation, with the conditioning. I mean when a druggie gets so involved that they don’t feel satisfaction unless they are using, or when a person becomes obsessively involved with another.

All around good post, I had to comment again. But I feel as though it would have been a cleaner analysis if you had made clean distinctions between positive and negative reinforcement, and positive and negative punishment.

By: Hope

Hope — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 16:01:35 +0000

There is a Nerve personal essay written by a guy who dated a bipolar girl. He fell in love with her rather quickly, and she wasn’t the first bipolar girl he dated either. I had obsessive compulsions and bouts of depression when I was younger as well.

The title of his article is accurate. Love is like a rollercoaster — I was riding it with shut eyes, and I wasn’t even aware that the ride would end. One moment I would feel like I was the happiest person in the world, like the first drag of an inexorably good drug, but when it was taken away, the withdrawal was terrible. I missed the extreme ups and extreme downs of the ride itself, and sought for years afterwards to return to that state.

I can understand why some people “play the field” for years. They aren’t doing it so much to find the perfect mate, but to seek another hit of the love drug. It takes tremendous willpower to quit love, as strong, as alluring and as dangerous as any addictive substance known to man.

By: T

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 07:55:12 +0000

Good point Johnny Five. Same goes for men who have bipolar girlfriends/wives I believe. Could be wrong though.

By: johnny five

johnny five — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 06:28:26 +0000

this also explains why children of manic depressive mothers, and wives/gf’s of men who oscillate between seriously abusive and seriously loving, become such obsessive pleasers.

By: dchero

dchero — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 02:25:41 +0000

Well explained, T, well explained.

dchero’s last blog post..Evolutionary Realities

By: T.

T. — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 18:49:08 +0000

In all seriousness, the best value of this stuff to me isn’t so much to abuse it against other people but more to prevent yourself from falling into the manipulation traps yourself.

T.’s last blog post..The Compliance Recipe, Part 3: Intermittent Rewards

By: virgle Kent

virgle Kent — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 18:14:47 +0000

You know I’m going to use this when I buy a dog or get a girlfriend…. wait what?

But for serious its a shame the games you have to play with some people to get them to act right.

By: roissy

roissy — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 10:22:38 +0000

i knew there was a reason i hate twitter.

anyhow, good post.

roissy’s last blog post..Funny ‘Cause It’s (Kinda) True

By: T

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 17:32:59 +0000

Same thing I do every day….try to take over the world!