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 Z. Lieberman, M.D. is professor and vice chair for clinical affairs in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at George Washington University. Dr Lieberman is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, a recipient of the Caron Foundation Research Award, and he has published over 50 scientific reports on behavioural science. He has provided insight on psychiatric issues for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the US Department of Commerce, and the Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy, and has discussed mental health in interviews on CNN, C-SPAN, and PBS. Dr Lieberman studied the Great Books at St. John's College. He received his medical degree and completed his psychiatric training at New York University.

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

Analogies represent a very dopaminergic way of thinking about the world. Here’s an example: light can sometimes act like individual bullets being fired from a gun, and at other times like ripples traveling across a pond. An analogy pulls out the abstract, unseen essence of a concept, and matches it with a similar essence of an apparently unrelated concept. Sometimes that means going after resources that are already there, but in a much more exciting fashion. Sometimes it means creating resources that never existed before. Daniel Lieberman: I think perhaps the broadest way to describe dopamine is that it's designed to maximize future resources, and we can see that working in ourselves when we're constantly focused on the future, I need more. I'm not satisfied. I'm not a good enough person rather than just kind of taking a deep breath and saying wow, look at all the wonderful things I have, the good things I've done. I'm grateful for them.So, from an evolutionary point of view, it's incredibly important. And that's why it's so powerful because it directs our behavior from the bottom up. It's designed to keep us alive and make us evolutionarily successful.

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

Kaitlin Luna: Everything in our body serves a purpose. So, from evolutionary perspective, why does dopamine exist in our brains and are we the only animals who have dopamine? The dopamine-boosting effect is also evident when marijuana smokers get lost in their own thoughts, floating aimlessly through imaginary worlds of their own creation. I give it 4 stars because this book tries to simplify very complex things just to dopamine (like politics, human migrations, and others). I feel like conclusions are drawn too hastily. But then there are descriptions of some interesting experiments which can be very exciting (like dopamine-depleted rats not willing to increase the effort to get more tasty food).

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