Our brain simply loves to get high and for a long time we couldn´t get good stuff from the outer world ( it must have been terrible) when we were still stonagey and before, but we had those fine centers for own opioids, own cannabinoids, but especially the other hormones that aren´t so fancy. No matter where we look, to the love in our beds, to the digital shopping card, enemies and frenemies at work, what we love and hate about political parties, we are wired to react like animals.

The crux of our behaviour boils down to two outlooks we humans have – here & now matters (which the authors refer to as the H&N circuit) and the future (our desires and actions). Dopamine is largely what determines how we approach the future – high dopamine defining the drive. Dopamine circuits are in two categories – ones which determine our desires and the other which exerts control over our actions. As scientific terms go, this name is fairly simple – but it’s also misleading. There’s much more to dopamine than stimulus and reward. Lieberman is highly entertaining, mixing the hard science with entertaining elements to make it more vivid, transporting it directly into the long term memory, except of course one is too stoned on dopamine and the data transmission affected by too much of whatever emotion. Don´t read angry, nervous, or horny, that´s not healthy for your wisdom!Emotion is almost always a liability that interferes with calculated action. In fact, a common strategy of domination is to stimulate emotional reactions in one’s adversary to interfere with his ability to execute his plans. A wiki walk can be as refreshing to the mind as a walk through nature in this completely overrated real life outside books: Dopamine is the source of our desires, our tenacity, our creativity, and even our political beliefs. For most of us, these are the qualities that make us “us.” This means that of all our different brain chemicals, we identify most with dopamine.

In a broad sense, saying something is “important” is another way of saying it’s linked to dopamine. Creativitatea reflectă creierul în forma sa cea mai elevată. Boala mintală este opusul.” Cel mai interesant capitol mi s-a părut cel despre creativitate și nebunie. Se vorbește despre saliență, vise, boli, modele mentale artă și altele, toate prin prisma dopaminei. Chapter 2: Drugs............................................................................................................. 45 These blinks combine the latest insights from psychology, neuroscience, and social studies to explore the powers and pitfalls of this incredible molecule.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. Los tres primeros capítulos (LOVE, DRUGS and DOMINATION) son absolutamente fascinantes y creo que es bastante fácil verse reflejado (y gracias al libro, entender) muchas de las sensaciones y emociones que se describen y que todos experimentamos en el día a día. Los capítulos 4 – 6 (CREATIVITY, POLITICS y PROGRESS) no me han parecido tan brillantes y los resultados de alguno de los estudios mencionados (p.ej. correlación entre niveles de dopamina e ideología) no tan convincentes. En cualquier caso en estos últimos también hay insights interesantes y son relativamente cortos, así que merece la pena llegar hasta ellos.

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.” Dopamine is the chemical of desire that always asks for more--more stuff, more stimulation, and more surprises. In pursuit of these things, it is undeterred by emotion, fear, or morality. Dopamine is the source of our every urge, that little bit of biology that makes an ambitious business professional sacrifice everything in pursuit of success, or that drives a satisfied spouse to risk it all for the thrill of someone new. Simply put, it is why we seek and succeed; it is why we discover and prosper. Yet, at the same time, it's why we gamble and squander. What makes you human? Is it your hopes and dreams, your imagination, your desires, your plans and passions? It’s not an easy question. But one thing is certain. Whatever the answer is, it depends on one little molecule produced by your brain: Dopamine.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. 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. I ask myself in such contexts what influence meditation, mindfulness, and positive psychology might have on the neurochemistry of the brain and, in this case, especially on the essential little helpers that make our emotional spectrum so manifold, wonderful, irresponsible, and prone to lunacy. People have this mistaken notion that you get high. What you’re really getting is relief from the low.