Ever-present Temptation

A supernormal stimulus or superstimulus is an exaggerated version of a stimulus to which there is an existing response tendency, or any stimulus that elicits a response more strongly than the stimulus for which it evolved. A substance or experience that humans did not evolve with for most of our journey from the primordial soup. They are rooted in motivation hormones, things that make us happy and feel safe, but using modern science, technology or chemistry, blown completely out of proportion.

Things like high calorie foods make sense that they would appeal to most humans: getting calories and nutrients is required to live. It has been a top priority for much of our evolution. It makes sense that we have evolved as a species to value it. In the 1800s, the Industrial revolution allowed us the mass production of flour and sugar, leading eventually to mass production of snacks involving these ingredients like Twinkies in the 1930s. A food that was built by means and technology that only have existed for the last slice of our evolution as a species. Calories give us dopamine, higher calories give us higher dopamine. The temptation for higher dopamine grows.

Drugs bypass the 'exaggerated natural stimulus' and go straight for the dopamine. Although the coca leaf was chewed and used for millennia by the Indigenous Andean peoples, its concentration into cocaine and mass production was not in swing until after the Industrial Revolution in the late 1800s.

The iPhone came out in 2007 and marked a shift in western society. Suddenly everyone could keep up with friends, family, acquaintances, celebrities, politicians, global affairs, wars, disasters, social injustices and more. The dopamine loaded experience of learning the drama of your social circles was now supercharged. People could learn about millions of people on earth. Online shopping, gaming, pornography and news all represent healthy stimulus, but with the infinitum of the internet they have become unrealistic. No where in history could man purchase so many different products, compete in alien worlds, be 'intimate' with dozens of people in one sitting or learn the news of other kingdoms in an hour. And its right at your finger tips, always with you.

Here at StarBlocker, we don't believe in renunciation. If you wish to move off grid we genuinely wish you luck (and even envy a bit), but for those committed to living in modern society, we wanted a better approach to using these superstiumuli in a reasonable way. Thats why we built StarBlocker. Our product is an AI empowered vision scanning software designed to keep you doing what you got on your device to do. It doesnt have keywords lists or website blacklists. It is an agent that is with you on your computer and helps you stay on your path. Preventing you from getting sucked into places you dont want to be.

We cant tell you what your rules with technology should be, but we can help you enforce them and notice when you are stepping off your path. We can gently guide you back on it. And its easy to setup. Here are a few examples of what StarBlocker can do that other blockers cant. Our system uses ai screenshot recognition combined with location, schedule or 'always' blockers, time limits on concepts not websites, and 'missions' to keep you on track.

  • "block all social media when im at my house" [location based rule]
  • "block adult content always" [always rule]
  • "For the next 2 hours only allow work related to my book on Ancient Religions. Writing software and research online ancient religions only" [Mission]
  • "No political content after 6PM" [schedule based rule]
  • "Only 45 min of Reddit per day" [time limit]

Currently StarBlocker is released for Mac, with Android, iOS and Windows coming soon. Join today with a 14 day free trail.