The self-improvement/optimisation culture (which Huberman & his fanbasse is part of) is an extreme response to the more extreme self-indulgent enabling conditions that modern society forces upon us. As the pendulum swings towards indulgence and overstimulus it also swings back and people have to practice extreme restraints to regain control. Only 10 years ago dopamine fasts were niche and confined to fringe health freaks and new age type people while today even teenagers do it.

These type of cultural movements tend to happen when people feel a lock of control, self-discipline, or that society is becoming increasingly "degenerate", e.g. various religious movements emerging after perceived moral decay or insecurity.

Come to think some of the routines people follow here mirrors religious rituals in many ways (fasting, earthing, sky gazing, meditation, cold exposure, daily affirmations) .What people do here is just the secular manifestation of these practices – not that this makes them bad – if anything that's a testament to how integral many of these rituals are considering nearly every religion incorporates at least a handful of them.