PINE NUTS – Welcome to IRL

Being a stoved-up old Marine that does not text because his fingers are too fat, I had to look up the meaning of the acronym, “IRL.” I was pleasantly surprised to learn IRL is text language for, “In Real Life.” So I’d like to float IRL out there as an appellation for a third political party, “IRL,” formerly, “DO NO HARM.”

Digital space is deceiving. Back when we were mining gold and silver here in the Silver State, nobody had heard of dopamine, yet that’s what they are mining today, and there’s millions in it.

Buried deep in our brains is a powerful ball of neurons about the size of a blue jay’s eyeball. It’s called Nucleus Accumbens. (That word caused me to change my major in college from pre-med to auctioneering.) Anyway, that powerful little ball, when stimulated by something rewarding, releases a potent drug called dopamine. If dopamine had a voice it would shout, “Hey, do that again!” And that’s just what the miners in digital corporate rooms want to hear. This is a reward system the digital world loves to mine, because Accumbens plus dopamine equals money, lots of it…

So it is that we have dopamine mining pits of pornography and bot-infused social media platforms, calling out to young minds swimming in digital dopamine. And what do they get? Addicted.

Granted, a handshake or a hug, or a smile might not stimulate a dollop of dopamine, but what a real-life person has to say might be worth its weight in, well, gold.

Too much Accumbens stimulation results in an underdeveloped prefrontal cortex, which shuts out the real world and leads to inappropriate behavior, including shouting offensive diatribes like, “Your mother wears combat boots!” 

Once your oversensitive Accumbens calms down you might find yourself reading a good book, or taking a hike into an awe and wonder provoking nature…

So, yes, I’m thinking we might like to call our new third political party for 2026, “The IRL Party.” What could be healthier than having a third party to unify our two major parties in making our country a safer place to raise our kids, while working across the aisle. What could be timelier than having a third political party to diminish the divisive rhetoric, toxic stress and political violence that imperils the trust that democracy needs to breathe.

We are presently seeking the right man or right woman to carry the banner and put their face on that banner. Two naturals that come to my mind are Pat Hickey and Kathryn Kelly. You too must have your personal favorites, and might want to shake their trees. Record a fitting name for a third party, and your personal pick to lead that party. And please send me a copy. Meanwhile I shall remain a friend trying to become a better person in a country trying to become a better democracy…

Audio: https://open.spotify.com/show/7Fhv4PrH1UuwlhbnTT23zO