The Pleasure Principle
Thursday, 14th August 2008
Your breathing increases. Your pulse begins to race. There are butterflies in your stomach and your palms are moist with sweat...
No you are not in love, you are on a rollercoaster ride.
It is interesting to note that hormones called opiates are released in your body during a roller coaster ride. The same hormones produced by being in love, exercising, sex, sunbathing, eating chocolate and the experience of beauty and art. In short the things that makes us happy. Theses brain chemicals called neurotransmitters are released and associated with pleasurable activities by the brain. Serotonin, Dopamine and Endorphins produce feelings of intense pleasure and relieve pain.
Foods with a high-fat, high sugar combination, as well as alcohol have been shown to increase the production of endorphins and a response in the brain similar to morphine. Anything that will cause these natural opiates to be released will likely become something we desire and crave. Drugs that have the same effects described above include antidepressants, heroin, cocaine and other stimulants that can lead to serious addictions.
The "runners high" is a result of the release of endorphins in the brain. This grueling act of self-discipline rewards with a sense of well being that is experienced through endorphin release. This is the reason why so many people seem to become dependant on this natural high by becoming addicted to exercise, which is truly a mood altering experience.
Maintaining an internal state of balance is the main function of the brain in regard to appetite and pleasure. If you become overly stressed, your brain will sense low levels of certain chemicals and will immediately begin to make the needed adjustments to bring about balance. Your brain will want to make you do whatever activity has been shown in the past to release more of the neurotransmitters that will create a sense of calmness and peace. Try as you might, you can't ignore your brain, and it will continue to drive you to seek substances or activities that will bring about pleasure until it feels it has been sufficiently satisfied.
Our brain learns what it is that we do to bring pleasure or restore balance, and it keeps track of information. Not everyone "learns" the same things; therefore, we may respond very differently to the brains call for pleasure seeking behavior. Our brain remembers what has brought about needed changes in the past and will drive us toward those activities again and again. One person may have learned to eat "comfort foods" (most likely ones that are high in carbohydrates) when feeling stressed, while another may have experimented with alcohol or drugs to achieve the same result. Anything you have associated with a sense of pleasure at some time in the past is a candidate for future use when your brain is seeking balance.
Appetite is influenced by the imprint of past forms of coping and seeking pleasure. There are connections between events and the use of certain substances and behaviors to relieve the pain associated with the events. The process of learning about various pleasure sources should give us all hope. If the brain has learned what it will seek for pleasure or balance, then it can "relearn" new and healthier forms of activity and foods to achieve a state of well-being. So there is hope in overcoming unhealthy pleasure seeking.
Interestingly substances or behaviors can increase or decrease serotonin or dopamine, but we must remember that the expectation of the outcome has more to do with the release of the pleasure-control chemicals than anything else. The right substance with the wrong expectations will yield nothing in the area of satisfaction or pleasure.
The word amuse according to the Oxford dictionary is defined as "to make time pass pleasantly for oneself or somebody or to make somebody laugh or smile."
Collins dictionary adds "to entertain or keep interested."
There seems from the beginning of time that the need to entertain or amuse existed for human kind. Maybe the man that came up with the amusement park concept was aware of the need of healthy pleasure seeking as well. Maybe the first rollercoaster ride design was the anticipated thrill or someone's idea of fun.
Not surprisingly Amusement parks all started with pleasure gardens. These were located in Medieval Europe and had live entertainment, fireworks, dancing, games and some rides. They were popular until the 1700s when political situations caused a lot of them to close down. Bakken, a pleasure garden north of Copenhagen, is still standing. It opened in 1583 and with the world's oldenst operating amusement park.
In the late 1800s amusement parks started taking hold in the United States. Most amusement parks were built at the end of a trolley line. They usually had picinic areas, dance halls, restaurants, games and a few rides. They were immediately successful! In 1893, amusement parks started to become extremely popular. The World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago introduced the ferris wheel and the midway. The midway had a wide variety of rides and concessions and largely influenced amusement park design.
In 1894, Paul Boynton opened the world's first modern amusement park, Paul Boynton's Water Chutes. It charged admission and used rides to draw people to it. In 1895, he also opend a park at Coney Island. Coney Island was central to the amusment park industry. Once it had three big amusement parks, plus smaller attractions.
Over the years, trolley parks expanded, new amusement parks opened and new rides were created. Over 1,500 amusement parks were opened by 1919 in the United States. During the Great Depression, amusement park attendance went down greatly. In, 1935, there were only about 400 amusement parks and World War II didn't help matters. Many parks closed during the war and others had to stop adding new rides in order to stay open. After World War II, amusement parks had a sudden popularity boom. New parks opened as more and more people came.
Disneyland opened in 1955 as a themed park and was an immediate success. Theme parks are still enjoying success. New technology is creating types of rides that were once unattainable.
The top thrill dragster is located in Van Cedar point Ohio USA and was built on 05-04-2003. It boast a length of 853,4m and a height of 128m. The drive starts at a height of 121,9m and reaches a maximum speed of 193,1 km/h (the fastest in the world). It excellerates from 0 to 193 km/h in 4 seconds. The cost to produce such a pleasure producing machine... $25 million. But if you think this ride is too far or too wild you can visit our local amusement parks like Gold Reef City, Retanga Junction for your dose of pleasure chemicals.