The Molecule of More: How a Single Chemical in Your Brain Drives Love, Sex, and Creativity―and Will Determine the Fate of the Human Race

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Daniel Lieberman: I think so. I think there's still an enormous amount of stigma. In general, brain illnesses are more stigmatized compared to other illnesses. But we're making progress. You're probably too young to remember. But, there was a time when having cancer was stigmatized.

The Molecule of More: How a Single Chemical in Your Brain The Molecule of More: How a Single Chemical in Your Brain

Daniel Lieberman: Instinctually, what we do is we drive to protect ourselves. And that's something we have no control over. We will swerve into a crowd of people if we think it's going to save her own life and sounded decision, we make. But with self-driving cars, that becomes a decision we need to make as we program it. And it's a very difficult decision, and nobody's talking about it too much. The neurotransmitter dopamine is the source of desire (via the desire circuit) and tenacity (via the control circuit); the passion that points the way and the willpower that gets us there. Mike Long: Just to be technical for a minute, it doesn't actually increase the volume of dopamine. It increases the dopaminergic activity in across the cells, right? In The Molecule of More: How a Single Chemical in Your Brain Drives Love, Sex, and Creativity—And Will Determine the Fate of the Human Race, psychiatrist Daniel Z. Liberman and physicist–turned–writer Michael E. Long have produced a book both confused and confusing. Its overblown title signals a kitchen-sink approach—too much, too repetitive, too speculative. Daniel Lieberman: Not only that, but we can actually shift people to the left or the right by surreptitiously influencing what parts of their brain are going to be more active. So, for example, if you are under threat, that's going to activate your here and now circuits because you need to protect what you already have.

Kaitlin Luna: Yeah, and this is what we're seeing with this emphasis on mindfulness and people wanting to be here now. I think, because we are living in a world that's very dopamine-centric, with constant, you know, instant gratification all the time. So, that's where I imagine some of this is me, just editorializing. But, where we're seeing this boom and mindfulness. Dopamine wants more, and it doesn’t care how it gets it. Moral or immoral, dominant or submissive, it’s all the same to dopamine, as long as it leads to a better future.

The Molecule of More: How a Single Chemical in Your Bra… The Molecule of More: How a Single Chemical in Your Bra…

The bigger and better the surprise, the more dopamine our brain releases – and the more pleasure we feel. The high is greatest when we make a reward prediction error – in other words, when we encounter an outcome that’s better than what we expected. Dopamine responded not to reward, but to reward prediction error: the actual reward minus the expected reward. Things are salient if they have the potential to affect your future. Things are salient if they trigger desire dopamine. They broadcast the message, Wake up. Pay attention. Get excited. This is important.Daniel Lieberman: Really dopamine is the essence of addiction. Any drug that's potentially addictive is going to cause the release of dopamine, the activity of dopamine in that desire circuit. And conversely, any substance which causes this dopamine activity is going to be addictive. There's a lot of debate, some time ago, about whether or not marijuana could be addictive. It can. And now that we're seeing these very high, potent strains available, we are finding people who are losing control of their marijuana use but opioids, cocaine, this causes a lot more dopamine release. And so, these are extremely addictive. There are certain behaviors that caused dopamine release that also can get out of control. I don't think there's if there's a consensus yet about whether we're going to call it addiction, but things like video games, consuming pornography, these are things that look very much like addiction. And when you said that a moment ago, Dan, I think that's if you're listening to this, you wondering, well, what do you mean by creativity? This is one good way to begin to understand it. Creativity is associating things that have not been commonly associated before. Mike Long: That fine line between oh, here, these things and I could put them together into something useful. And here are these things and they're just going to spill out.

The Molecule of More by Daniel Z. Lieberman - Waterstones

The book aims to explain the broad, profound influence of the dopamine “pleasure molecule” in everyday life, at cultural branching points in human history, and as a driving force in human evolution. But calling dopamine the pleasure molecule, as it commonly is, is a misnomer, say the authors. From dopamine’s point of view, “it’s not the having that matters. It’s getting something—anything—that’s new.” DanielLiebermanand Michael Long have pulled off an amazing feat. They have made a biography of a neurotransmitter a riveting read.Once you understand the power and peril of dopamine, you’ll better understand the human condition itself.” So, dopamine makes it feel really, really good to pursue things. And that's why sometimes people tell young people, the most important thing is to find your passion. That's another word for the activity that stimulates dopamine. Mike Long: Sure, so dopamine is all about the future, making the future better. Maximizing resources. It gives us desire and anticipation. But as Mike pointed out, it makes promises it can't keep. So, for example, you may be wanting a brand-new TV and going on the Internet, getting all excited about that TV. But as soon as you get it, things change because it's gone from the future to the present and dopamine can only process the future. So, what happens is dopamine shuts down, and that's one of the causes of buyer's remorse, which everybody has heard of.

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Alternatively, someone with a highly active control circuit might be cold and calculating, ruthless and devoid of emotion. Daniel Lieberman: Yes, that's right. It increases the amount of dopamine that's active at any given point in time. But that's basically by ferrying it from an inactive place to intact place. Kaitlin Luna: Like Ritalin? Ritalin, it’s a common thing. People abuse that as well, to say folks that goal oriented focused on you.

The Molecule of More - RSB The Molecule of More - RSB

Mental time travel is a powerful tool of the dopamine system. It allows us to experience a possible, though presently unreal, future as if we were there. From dopamine's point of view, it's not the having that matters. It's getting something – anything – that's new. From this understanding – the difference between possessing something versus anticipating it – we can understand in a revolutionary new way why we behave as we do in love, business, addiction, politics, religion – and we can even predict those behaviours in ourselves and others. Jim Watson, who deciphered the genetic code, famously said, ‘There are only molecules; the rest is sociology,’ adding fuel to C. P. Snow’s complaint that Science and the humanities are two fundamentally different “cultures” which will never meet. The authors argue provocatively, yet convincingly, that the molecule that allows us to bridge the chasm between them is dopamine. Though written for ordinary people, the narrative is sprinkled throughout with dazzling new insights that will appeal equally to specialists.” When there is not enough dopamine in this circuit, people become stiff and shaky, and they move slowly.And yet, dopamine remains and correct me if I'm wrong, Dan, at the same levels. It's always been more or less here. Here we go, and dopamine has to have something to do. And that leads to these cultural effects. These cultural conflicts. These personal experiences that are — are sometimes frustrating. Sometimes, curious and strange. And that's where we went with the book is understanding how dopamine got us to this point, how it explains so much trouble we find ourselves in today and so many curious experiences we have.