A medieval palace in the English countryside has a small bell mounted by a window, with a rope hanging down to the moat below.
Since the 1850s, the resident swans have been pulling the rope to ring the bell when they want to be fed. The tradition began when one of the bishop’s daughters taught it to a single swan in the 1850s, and the swans have been passing it on ever since.
The current pair, Grace and Gabriel, are the latest in the line. Each year, after their cygnets hatch, Gabriel walks them up to the bell and teaches them to pull the rope before they leave the moat to start their own lives. The tradition is now 170 years old.
The official concept of "addiction" is based on the axiom that it is illegitimate to want to enhance your valence technologically. You must cheerfully surrender the sovereignty over your hedonic setpoint to the FDA. If you don’t, it means you are "addicted".