Letters to America
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I am very neurodiverse. I notice patterns, think in systems, connect dots, observe details, and ask a lot of questions. I miss writing and receiving letters, so I’m returning to them. I love Heather Cox Richardson’s “Letters From an American”—with appreciation and thanks for the inspiration.
Letters to America: Democracy Needs Empathy
I’ve been thinking about what happens to democracy when our brains are exhausted, overwhelmed, our attention is short, and empathy becomes harder to access—and why reclaiming our minds may be the most important civic act of our time.
Henry David Thoreau said, “It is not enough to be busy; so are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about?”
Where have all the philosophers gone? The scientists, anthropologists, dreamers, and seekers? The readers, storytellers, cabinetmakers, sociologists, historians, artists, teachers—the makers and keepers of knowledge, history, and culture?
What happens to a society when our world of thought, emotion, and understanding changes our brains—and, in turn, our behaviors?
In just more than a decade, we have been pushed into an artificial, digital world designed to addict us. In this fast-paced, convenient, on-demand society, our operating system has become dysregulated. It is not just the apps; it is the idea that computers live in our pockets and minds at all times. This impacts all of us, not just kids.
I wish this were a science fiction plot, but it isn’t.
And it isn’t science, either. If this technology were rooted in science, it would be designed to help, not harm us. Smartphone applications and artificial intelligence would be researched, evidence-based, and built with a full understanding of their impact on humans.
Technology should exist to further humanity—to confront climate change, advance medicine, invest in research, eradicate disease, provide clean water, supply green energy, and help to end poverty and hunger.
But that is not what is happening.
We Are All Hormones
Our brains are our operating system. They are fueled by hormones and neurotransmitters—serotonin, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, thyroid, and dopamine—that shape our personality, emotions, and behavior. This is neurobiological: body and brain work together to regulate how we think, learn, feel, and function.
Dopamine is both a hormone and a neurotransmitter that lives in our brains and makes us who we are. Our brains need stimulation—always seeking content that makes us feel good. It allows us to focus, create, connect, and engage with the world–it’s our joy and reward center. Without it, our executive function diminishes, and our biological functions like stress response, kidney function, digestion, pain processing, and inflammation lessen too. Dopamine is not just nice to have; it is necessary
This is a neurobiological response. Disrupt it at scale, and our brains dysregulate, diminish, changing how a society thinks, governs, communicates, and behaves. When screens and dopamine hits from social media hijack our brains, our time, behaviors, and relationships change, too.
Dopamine is not a buzzword or a drug. We are not addicted to dopamine—we are starved for it
Revolution
Our country was born in the Age of Enlightenment, a time that valued reading, debate, education, and public life. People gathered in taverns, read pamphlets, wrote letters, made art and music, and supported each other. Libraries and civic institutions weren’t side notes—they were the foundation. Democracy depends on an engaged public, a shared culture, and an understanding that Liberty could be taken for granted.
The American Revolution was not just political; it was deeply human. During the Revolution, we overthrew a King and refused to submit. We rejected loyalty to a government that did not serve the people. The American Revolution was not just our Revolution; it was one whose shot was heard around the world. That work was hard—but the work we face today is also hard.
When brains are starved, curiosity dulls, empathy weakens, judgment slips. We become easier to manage and easier to manipulate. That is where fascism enters. Fascism is built to control and surveil.
The corporations and architects of this consumer-driven AI built this “technology” on profits over people. This is not accidental; it is by design. Billionaires made their fortunes by designing apps and using AI to dysregulate us. They addicted us, creating an attention deficit disorder at a societal scale, and then told us there is no cure. By depleting our dopamine, they altered how we feel, think, respond, and behave.
Fascism does not tolerate neurodiversity, value empathy, or critical thinking. It thrives on dysregulation, sameness, fear, and hatred.
That isn’t innovation, it is a crime against humanity.
Control-Alt-Delete
All of this became impossible for me to ignore once I started paying attention. I noticed how our behaviors changed—how we treat one another, our ability to focus, to be curious, how we listen, and how we tell stories.
As our planet is biodiverse, humankind thrives in neurodiversity. That’s what makes us human. We know that apps and scrolling are addictive. They hijack attention and exhaust us. They changed how we use our time and how we behave and communicate with each other.
I notice the growing fatigue, distraction, anxiety, irritability, aggressive driving, rushing, impatience, disjointed conversations, talking over one another, and overwhelm. I see it everywhere—in friendships, workplaces, families, grocery stores, on buses, trains, planes, in parks, on hikes, and across the community.
When attention lessens and exhaustion becomes normalized, our values and culture erode from the inside out. Our bodies and brains need a reboot.
I needed to hit control, alt, delete.
Reclaiming Our Minds
During menopause, pressure, anxiety, and distraction dysregulated my central nervous system. My dopamine was depleted, and brain fog set in. When our bodies and brains are low in dopamine, it is necessary to replenish the tank. Over the past eighteen months, following my adult ADHD diagnosis, I dug deep and worked to reset my hormone levels—estrogen, thyroid, serotonin, dopamine.
What I know in my heart is that there is no “neurotypical.” Once I began to understand neurodiversity, I began to understand my brain in a way I never had before. I became aware of how this artificial world of apps steadily depletes dopamine—the hormone that wires motivation, energy, focus, and engagement. I came to understand that anxiety is not the root problem; it is a co-disorder. Instead of feeling broken, I now feel balanced, which helped me find equilibrium in this fast, disconnected society.
We need to fill our brains with content that stimulates dopamine production and makes us feel good.
Practice Makes Better
My father always said, “Practice doesn’t make perfect—practice makes better.” When you can focus, you can practice. When you can focus, you can do anything.
I returned to reading instead of listening to books. I hear music more fully, including lyrics. I started learning guitar instead of watching others play. I swim laps and write in a notebook. I stopped carrying my phone everywhere and no longer feel the urge to look at it during the “in-between” times. I use a “Brick” to block apps that keep me scrolling. I start—and finish—projects. I focus, and I can hyperfocus. I smile differently, dance with abandon, sing out loud, and aim to share the best of me.
As my anxiety eased, I felt more comfortable just being me.
We, like our founding documents, grow and evolve. We need to stay curious, create, connect in real life, and be human.
For the People, By the People
Our Democracy is centered around these words: for the people, by the people. This past election, the majority of Americans did not “vote” to dismantle our institutions, law & order, government, and country that we love, even as we wrestle with its contradictions.
Today’s Revolution does not belong to one generation, institution, or political party. It belongs to all of us—ordinary people living in extraordinary times. To fight a King, Empire, or Regime, we must respond differently. We must rise and stand up against the criminals, bullies, the depravity, the cruelty, and a culture that places profits over people.
We need to do what’s right and just, and resist AI and a system of apps that are forced upon us. This means putting regulations and safeguards in place to ensure that we don’t lose our minds or humanity along the way. It means saying no to technologies and AI that diminish us while pretending to connect us.
Reclaiming our minds is not self-help; it is civic resistance. We need to be un-addicted—not from dopamine, but from the systems that drain it.
I do not consent. And neither should you.
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