One of the greatest pleasures in my middle-aged life is a Friday takeaway, endlessly debating pizza toppings and portion sizes before buying way too much, watching the little figure bike over the virtual map to our door, only to inevitably get lost in the lane behind our house and need rescuing.

When I heard about a site that allows users to experience the pleasure of ordering without the cost or calories or, well, delivery of anything yummy for dinner, I could not see the appeal. These are so-called dopamine sites, named for the brain chemical associated with reward seeking. Even the name “Food Never Comes” caused a neurological flare of whatever the opposite of dopamine is – deprivation? hanger? – in my hypothalamus.

The trend began in South Korea, where youngsters facing soaring living costs turned to virtual window shopping for the thrill of adding to cart and checking out – minus the bills or buyer’s remorse. Dopamine is released when we expect something – less so when we actually get it. The theory is that clicking a “buy” button – even a fake buy button, even when the wished-for item fails to materialise – yields the same rush as a real transaction. “Craving a getaway too?” a banner ad reads, “Trip never leaves. Book the trip, skip the airport”.

Despite my initial recoil, I have to admit this feels familiar. I’ve come home late and scrolled Deliveroo while eating cereal, just for the giddy notion of summoning my heart’s desire to my door at 1am. Only last night, while my husband read a biography of John........

© The Irish Times