Shadowing Practice: WHY NOTHING FEELS INTERESTING ANYMORE (and how to fix it with neuroscience) - Learn English Speaking with Video
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If you feel like nothing excites you the way that it used to, it is not because of your personality.
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There's literally a neurological shift that has happened in your brain chemistry that has stolen your curiosity.
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And in this video, I'll explain how it works and how to fix it.
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My name is Olga, I study Computation and Cognitive Science at the University of Pennsylvania.
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And in this video I'll break down how with neuroscience you can direct your curiosity to things that actually matter, so that books, conversations, ideas,
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and people start feeling genuinely exciting again.
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Oftentimes people think that they have lost their curiosity.
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But that is not true.
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Just think about it, every time you binge watch Netflix, you binge watch reality TV,
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or you This is your brain's curiosity system doing exactly what it's designed to do,
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which is hunting for the next interesting piece of information, and it's the exact same dopamine system that drives scientists,
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artists, and every genuinely fascinating person that you've ever met.
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But the difference is that Their curiosity has been aimed at things that enrich them but your curiosity has been hijacked,
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he's been captured by things that drain you.
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But that is fixable.
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First, we have to understand what is happening in your brain when you're in a state of curiosity.
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And scientists define it as a sort of mental hunger because your brain is constantly scanning your surroundings, the world around you, and when it detects a gap,
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between what it knows and what it wants to know.
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it becomes hungry to close that gap to get that information.
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For example, when you read a shocking headline and you physically cannot scroll past it, curiosity is what drives you to actually click on the article
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and actually read the article to obtain that information because your brain essentially treats information as essential for your survival.
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But if your brain is this hungry for information, why does it only want junk?
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Why does it only want watching stupid videos?
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Like, it doesn't want to read a book, it doesn't want to read an article or learn a new skill or do something more useful.
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And the answer comes down to one chemical, which is dopamine.
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And I know you've heard so much about dopamine, it's such a buzzword, but please stick with me on this one because this is where it all connects, this is where it's all gonna make sense.
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Dopamine is the neurotransmitter that is constantly present in your brain.
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It's a chemical that makes you do things.
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It basically motivates you to the point where you stand up and you do something.
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And if you didn't have any dopamine, you wouldn't want to do anything at all.
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And when you have a healthy level of dopamine in your brain, the whole world feels like it's full of things worth pursuing.
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Questions feel worth exploring.
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Books feel worth reading.
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Conversations feel interesting.
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And the reason why these things feel so interesting to you is because
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you have a healthy level of dopamine in your system
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and you have enough dopamine to actually generate that motivational pull that is going to get you interested to pursue those things.
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So if you're not feeling interested in the things that used to bring you joy, it might be that your brain is just not generating enough motivation to make those things worth pursuing.
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So how does it happen?
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Well, every time your brain detects something novel, like a new notification, a new video, Spikes Hub.
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So it spikes up
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and then it drops and it gives you that push of motivation to actually click on something and find out that information.
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And the thing is, your brain actually compensates dopamine a little bit by going down and pushing dopamine slightly below the baseline.
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And then it goes back to baseline.
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And then you see something crazy again on TikTok and it spikes up again.
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It goes down, it goes under the baseline, then goes back to baseline because we always have to maintain that balance and come back to the baseline.
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It keeps happening.
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Again.
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Again again.
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When you scroll for an hour, you're hitting your dopamine system hundreds of times without actually giving it time to recover.
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And day after day, week after week, you keep spiking and spiking and spiking your dopamine.
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And here's the thing, your brain is actually trying to help you.
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And it detects that your dopamine is chronically elevated and it thinks something is wrong, I have to reduce it.
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So it adapts by reducing the number of dopamine receptors.
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And what it means is that even if of it is going to get registered.
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So you can kind of assume that you have less dopamine to work with.
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And essentially your dopamine baseline falls somewhere from here, from to somewhere here.
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And now, In order for you to get up to here, you're going to have to start from the lower start point.
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And since your curiosity runs on dopamine, and now that your brain is less receptive of dopamine, you have less interest and less motivation to do things.
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The world starts feeling flat, conversations feel dull, books feel uninteresting, and now normal activities don't feel like they're worth pursuing anymore, and they're not worth your action.
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they still register as interesting because they can still spike
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that dopamine high enough to bring back that Motivational pull to go
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and keep scrolling which is why it's
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so hard to stop scrolling even though it keeps leaving you empty
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So it's not that your curiosity is gone is
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that your curiosity has been hijacked by these algorithmic feeds
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and these binging behaviors They have lowered your dopamine baseline and now normal things like reading a book to.
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When people have a dopamine overload, they usually don't realize it.
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They just assume that it's a part of their personality, that they're lazy, they're unmotivated, they can't focus, they think that they're not curious and boring,
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which I think is very harmful.
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because it keeps you in a fixed mindset that makes you feel like you are unchangeable, which you of course are.
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And first I'm going to tell you the symptoms of dopamine overload and how to easily fix it.
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And first is that you cannot focus.
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You sit down to read or work on something important, and within 90 seconds your brain is reaching for your phone.
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And you're reaching to watch YouTube or TikTok, maybe you're even watching this video because you cannot focus on your task.
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is you feel like you have nothing interesting to say.
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You scroll through hours of content every week, but if someone at dinner asks you what you've been up to lately, you don't know what to say.
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Your mind goes blank.
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even though you've consumed thousands of pieces of content in the past month, there's not a single one that is worth sharing.
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And the third symptom is that you feel like you stopped growing.
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You feel like you were more interesting 5 years ago because you went deep on topics, you read books, you had hobbies you were interested in, and you feel like something has changed,
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because you don't feel that excitement anymore.
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But the good news is that it's completely reversible.
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And the fix is extremely simple.
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Step number one is you have to reset your dopamine so it goes back to your baseline, so you can regain your motivation.
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Anywhere from one day to seven days is going to help you reset your dopamine system.
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So just choose any amount of days in that range.
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And rules of the fast is to eliminate your highest stimulation behaviors.
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like mid -watching TV or algorithmic feeds like Twitter and Reddit and TikTok and Instagram, or video games.
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Basically, you can still use the internet, But you have to fully eliminate those things that actually make the internet so high stimulation and always spike your dopamine.
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Like you can still read articles, but it would be much better if you do not go on social media, for example.
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And during the fast, you have to create friction between you and those behaviors.
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You have to put your phone in another room while you work, turn off notifications, delete apps if you need to.
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And over the years, I kind of developed this habit where as soon as social media becomes overstimulating to me, I basically take my phone,
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I delete Instagram, TikTok, I delete Twitter, and I don't go there anymore.
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And I last like that for maybe a few weeks, and then I get them back.
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But an interesting thing is that I still use Instagram on my computer, in the browser, often communicate with my friends.
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I text with my friends on Instagram and I don't want to miss any of the messages.
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But because it's so inconvenient to use Instagram and watch reels on the computer, you just don't really want to do it.
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So I created this exception for myself where I am allowed to read messages and reply to my friends, but I'm not allowed to actually watch the content.
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And step number two is move your body.
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If there's one thing that neuroscience is anonymous on, it's that Exercise is the most powerful tool for restoring your dopamine system.
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It increases dopamine production, it increases receptor sensitivity.
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And people who exercise regularly, they have more natural motivation, they have more curiosity, and it happens because loosely speaking,
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they have more dopamine to work with, so they feel more motivated.
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And even 30 minutes of walking a day, it's a great start.
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one thing that caught your attention recently and spent 20 minutes really exploring it.
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Maybe you're curious to learn more about psychology, so go read a full article about some topic in psychology, go watch a long -form video,
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go ask AI questions about that topic and keep asking it questions, go deep on it to see how it actually feels to be interested in something again.
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So you do not actually lack curiosity, you lack the dopamine to act on it.
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So, So now, do a dopamine reset, move your body, and go on a 20 minute rabbit hole about some topic that you find interesting.
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And being interested in things, being genuinely deeply interested in the world around you, it's the most attractive, the most creative,
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and the most life -changing thing you can be.
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Because being interested is being interesting.
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Thank you for watching and subscribe if this helped.
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I am currently building up my YouTube channel so any sort of suggestions for next video topics, any sort of comments or likes would be greatly appreciated.
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Thank you.
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Thank you.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This C1 speaking lesson is built on the video “WHY NOTHING FEELS INTERESTING ANYMORE”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: dopamine, curiosity, brain, interesting, baseline. This video has 118 sentences and 1802 words to shadow. The speech runs for 10:37. The speaker talks at a natural 170 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 84% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| dopamine noun | /ˈdoʊ.pəˌmin/ | A monoamine C₈H₁₁NO₂ that is a decarboxylated form of dopa, present in the body as a neurotransmitter and a precursor of other substances including adrenalin. |
| curiosity noun | /ˌkjʊɹ.iˈɑ.sə.ti/ | Inquisitiveness; the tendency to ask and learn about things by asking questions, investigating, or exploring. |
| baseline noun | /ˈbeɪslaɪn/ | A line that is a base for measurement or for construction. |
| spike noun | /spaɪk/ | A sort of very large nail. |
| scroll noun | /skɹoʊl/ | A roll of paper or parchment; a writing formed into a roll. |
| binge noun | /bɪnd͡ʒ/ | A short period of excessive consumption, especially of food, alcohol, narcotics, etc. |
| reset verb | /ɹiːˈsɛt/ | To set back to the initial state. |
| detect verb | /dɪˈtɛkt/ | To discover or find by careful search, examination, or probing. |
| algorithmic adjective | /ˌælɡəˈɹɪðmɪk/ | Of, relating to, or being an algorithm. |
| excite verb | /ɪkˈsaɪt/ | To stir the emotions of; to cause to feel excitement. |
| hijack verb | /ˈhaɪ.d͡ʒæk/ | To forcibly seize control of some vehicle in order to rob it or to reach a destination (especially an airplane, truck or a boat). |
| motivational adjective | Tending or intended to motivate. | |
| neuroscience noun | The scientific study of the nervous system. | |
| overload verb | /ˌəʊvəˈləʊd/ | To load excessively. |
| motivate verb | /ˈmoʊ.tɪ.veɪt/ | To provide someone with an incentive to do something; to encourage; to actuate. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| go back to verb | To stem from; to originate in. | |
| go down verb | To descend; to move from a higher place to a lower one. | |
| break down verb | To stop functioning. | |
| bring back verb | /ˈbɹɪŋ bæk/ | To fetch something. |
| build up verb | To erect; to construct. | |
| come down to verb | To reach by moving down or reducing. | |
| find out verb | To discover, as by asking or investigating. | |
| get up to verb | To do something, especially something that is forbidden or improper. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | has happened · have lost · you've ever met |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | has been aimed · been captured · is chronically elevated |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | chemical, which is · scrolling which is · one that is |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 33 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, you're, they're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: stimulation /stɪm.jʊˈleɪ.ʃən/, notification /ˌnoʊtɪfɪˈkeɪʃn̩/, friction /ˈfɹɪkʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: curiosity /ˌkjʊɹ.iˈɑ.sə.ti/, algorithmic /ˌælɡəˈɹɪðmɪk/, stimulation /stɪm.jʊˈleɪ.ʃən/, notification /ˌnoʊtɪfɪˈkeɪʃn̩/, inconvenient /ˌɪn.kənˈviːni.ənt/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like dopamine, curiosity, baseline.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.