How a Single Chemical in Your Brain Drives Love, Sex, and Creativity―and Will Determine the Fate of the Human Race There's also examples, though, of people developing artistic and poetic talent as a result of getting these dopamine boosting drugs.

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

Kaitlin Luna: Do you think that's where the conversations are going in this country about how to treat addictions that we're seeing? Kaitlin Luna: But, you, you could do elaborate things that are you seeing this presentation, though, it really captures your attention. It can be boring and could be interesting, right? Daniel Lieberman: It's true, and most animals do have it. It's a very ancient chemical, but humans seem to have more of it than any other organism, and we are much more sophisticated than other organisms and so in human beings, it does a lot more, then just reward us when we engage in pro survival activities. It's responsible for a whole host of activities that people would never guess, such as love, creativity, even political affiliation. 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. Mike Long: In fact, the easiest of all is to program the drone to do it, because there's nobody involved at all. Everything is hypothetical. It's a pattern that you're dealing with, not particulars. So, the easiest of all is to program a drone to take the utilitarian answer, because you don't have to feel anything when you write code. This may never be used.Why are we always hopeful for solutions even in the darkest times—and so good at figuring them out? Mike Long: Dopamine sets us up to appreciate the world, to experience the world in two ways. And for me, this was, this was a revelatory. We have things that we appreciate — the color of your top right now, the color of the walls of the room, the feel of this table, a taste of a cup of water here I have. Things that we experience in the moment. We appreciate what they're like. That's one way we spend our time. 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 behaviors in ourselves and others. Daniel Lieberman: When people think about dopamine, they often think about reward, and that is an important aspect of it. We get feelings of pleasure, reinforcement, even euphoria when we do things that promote our survival and our reproduction, eating food, drinking water, winning competitions and having sex. Daniel Lieberman: Dopamine is a chemical in the brain. I like to think of it like the conductor of an orchestra. It turns on, turns off, turns up the volume — turns down the volume on a lot of different areas in the brain, and as a result, it has an outside, an outsized influence on our behavior.

The Molecule of More by Daniel Z. Lieberman - Waterstones

Provide is more to the left. Let's make this country a better place. Let's progress more. Protect is more to the right. Let's maintain the good things that we have and that's more here and now, neurotransmitters. Daniel Lieberman: So, you know, people will take amphetamine and it will make them work harder. It will make them more excited. It will focus them in on being goal directed, but eventually it will also ruin their life. So, artificially boosting dopamine is not the best strategy for a successful life. Mike Long: Profound implications for drone warfare. How do you program the machine if you're going to be purely utilitarian? The answer’s easy, but then you have to deal with the aftermath. There was even a film about. I'm sorry. I forget the name. We talk about it in the book. This really is a problem today, and it has to be answered one way or the other. There's no middle ground here. Kaitlin Luna: So, you think you'd be more difficult if you were sitting somewhere remotely conduct using a drone as opposed to being flying a plane or something?Utilitarianism says we should act to save lives. These are both very, very valid ways of approaching a problem. But, what's interesting is that depending on the location in three-dimensional space, our brain uses different circuits to process the problem, and we come up with different solutions. Kaitlin Luna: Okay, so that could be something like a job or a hobby or to something immersion? Yeah, something where something you're immersed in. And the experience is that it actually diminishes free will. It does not take it away completely. People still have a choice, but it makes making the right choice so much more difficult because we, we respond to the biological activity of our brain and dopamine is very, very powerful in that respect. Daniel Lieberman: It's a sense of self, and it's very much a double-edged sword. If traveling hopefully is enjoyable, it's going to give you the motivation and the incentive to get things done. But then when you arrive, it's all over and so you can work hard. But, you can never enjoy what you’ve worked for.

Molecule of More (豆瓣) - 豆瓣读书 The Molecule of More (豆瓣) - 豆瓣读书

Kaitlin Luna: So, it's really been integral in what has helped us evolve from early humans to where we are today? Kaitlin Luna: Like Ritalin? Ritalin, it’s a common thing. People abuse that as well, to say folks that goal oriented focused on you. Daniel Lieberman: Easier, easier, easier to program the drone to say, take out the terrorists and the children then it would be if you were standing right there on location, let's say with a gun and you were told “pull the trigger.” It describes the fact that the initial buzz of something exciting doesn’t last and this is due to the effect of the molecule receding. Something else is needed to maintain the initial excitement, whether that be love at first sight, the taste of a new food, or the buzz you get when you produce your first music single or work of art. 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.

You survey people about this and ninety percent now say no. It's not ethically permissible to do it.

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

Daniel Lieberman: Oh, here's another simple question. How should self-driving cars be programmed? Let's say that your self-driving car is going to get in an accident. Should it be programmed to minimize loss of life, or should it be programmed to save the life of its owner? It’s a difficult question.Kaitlin Luna: And you're talking about achievement with dopamine. How it helps us push us to this next level. So, what is the role of dopamine in making it successful? So, I want to talk about how it makes a successful and also how can make us, you know, lie, cheat, steal and do all sorts of bad things, you know, commit an act of violence? Kaitlin Luna: Yes, something about inspiration. Yeah, you’re talking about, you know, this dopamine can help with inspiration. You said making connections. Daniel Lieberman: That’s right. We really do have enough. We don't need a new cell phone. We don't need a bigger TV. We should just experience what we have and enjoy it.