The Molecule of More

Dopamine

  • Our brains crave unexpected rewards and the benefits of the future. Dopamine is what facilitates this.
  • We are ‘rewarded’ by dopamine when we get more than we anticipated, a.k.a. happiness error.
    • We’re also rewarded by the sheer act of anticipating any reward.
  • Passion rises when we dream of a world of possibility, but fades when we are confronted by reality. — Wise Words Blog
  • Dopamine is the source of desire, via the desire circuit, and also the source of tenacity, via the control circuit.

Dopamine is the passion that points the way and the willpower that gets us there.

Two types of space

  • Extrapersonal space is the stuff that’s out of reach and requires desire, effort, time, planning, and sacrifice to attain.
  • Peripersonal space is the stuff that can be experienced in the here and now. It’s what we already have, what’s right in front of our eyes.

Dopamine in our bodies

  • Dopamine’s biological goal is to maximize resources. It’s to secure assets for the future so we’re better off in terms of survival and spreading our genes. The pursuit of better things.
  • Dopamine has no standard for good, and seeks no finish line.
  • Dopamine isn’t the pleasure molecule. It’s the anticipation molecule.

Here and now neurotransmitters

  • H&Ns. They include serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphins.

  • These chemicals give us the sensation of pleasure due to sensations, or experiences in the ‘here and now’. From the peripersonal space.

  • The chemicals most associated with long-term relationships are oxytocin and vasopressin, both H&N molecules

    • So, in order to make a good relationship last, you have to accept that the dopaminergic aspect of it must be sacrificed for the here and now. Allow the desire of something in the extrapersonal space to enter the peripersonal space, and enjoy it for what it is.

  • Dopamine does not respond to reward itself; rather, prediction error. $actual - predicted$.

Wanting vs. liking

  • Dopamine circuits don’t process experience in the real world, only imaginary future possibilities.
  • In a sense, the dopamine desire circuit is just a salesman.
  • Buyer’s remorse is negative prediction error. H&Ns don’t make up for the dopaminergic anticipation.
  • Wanting is dopaminergic, liking is H&N.

Dopamine and addiction

  • Easy access matters when it comes to addiction. And today, it’s so easy to access things that give us stimulus. That’s why it’s so common for people to become addicted to ordinary things, like games, sex, drugs, etc.

  • Barriers to entry make it more difficult to get addicted. Barriers, sacrifice, etc. make it important to enjoy the experience for what it is. It’s not free. This mentality generally helps to trigger more H&N chemicals.

Dopamine and competition

  • Winning competitions has always been necessary for survival and reproduction. In fact, we are the result of an incomprehensible number of won competitions by ourselves and our thousands of generations of ancestors.
  • When we win competitions, dopamine is released. But this release is entirely different to that of H&Ns. When dopamine is released, we feel good but want more.

Nothing is ever enough for dopamine. It is the pursuit that matters, and the victory, but there is no finish line, and never will be. Winning, like drugs, can be addictive.

  • Because of the circuits in our brain (built over time to be receptive to competitive circumstances in life), we can tell when somebody has a high expectation of success and tend to get out of their way to avoid confrontation.
  • In the book, a doctor is nominated for the “best doctor” award in a prestigious magazine. But he is eventually left anxious... “will I win again next year?”

Domaine and goals

  • Control dopamine, the control circuit, is what takes the raw excitement and energy provided by the desire circuit and evaluates options, selects tools, and plots the strategy to attain what we desire.
  • You need to believe you can succeed before you can succeed.
  • A primary role of the dopamine control circuit is to keep the desire circuit in check. The desire circuit has no regard for morality; it wants what it wants and won’t stop until it gets it.
    • When control dopamine is weak, people go after things they want with little thought about the long-term consequences.

Models of the world

  • Models are imaginary representations of the world that we build in our brains to better understand it. They are simplified in areas and expanded in others, because we experience the world through our mental models and not though the actual world itself.
  • Dopamine is responsible for the creation and maintenance of these models.

Mental time travel

  • Dopamine is also responsible for the act of traveling in time using our brains. Especially, to the future.
  • In order to protect ourselves from future uncertainty and the potential for danger and failure, we travel in time to the future and mentally experience outcomes. Dopamine is responsible for this.

Next Steps

Making a good relationship last

Enjoying the experience itself, vs. its anticipation

Have measured expectations of success

  • We need to believe we can succeed before we can succeed.