"Greedy Dopamine" Book Review Why does romantic love fade? Why do you regret buying something after thinking about it? Why do successful people generally not feel successful, etc.? It all depends on a single molecule in the brain called dopamine.

" Greedy Dopamine " book review

Why does romantic love fade? Why do you regret buying something after thinking about it? Why do successful people generally not feel successful, etc.? It all depends on a single molecule structure in the brain - dopamine .

The book "Greedy Dopamine" is co-authored by Daniel Lieberman, associate director of clinical affairs in the Division of Psychiatry and Behavior at George Washington University, and Michael E. Long of Georgetown University.

From the shallower to the deeper, they explored how dopamine affects human beings in various aspects such as personality, habits, life, and love, and how people can control our lives by controlling dopamine.

Although this book is a popular science book, its language is vivid and readable, and it has been highly sought after by readers as soon as it was published. There are many real-life examples and experiments in the book that are quite interesting and will not be boring to read.

The point is that this book is really helpful for us to deal with some problems in life and work. After all, everyone cannot do without it-dopamine.

So, what exactly is dopamine? How powerful is it? Now, let’s find answers to these questions one by one from the book.

1. What exactly is dopamine?

Dopamine is a single-molecule chemical in our brains. Never underestimate such a single-molecule structure. It can control your desires, imagination, impulses, and creativity. It can affect almost a wide range of human endeavors: creating art, literature, and music, pursuing success, and discovering new worlds. and new laws of nature, pondering the existence of God, falling in love, and more.

The role of dopamine becomes key to explaining and even predicting a range of behaviors. It is an act that is not controlled by reason, and the instinctive reaction makes one feel the satisfaction of immediate gratification, but after it is over, one regrets but is nostalgic for the behavior. Many people think that dopamine is a substance that makes people happy.

But in fact, it is a molecule of desire. While we have gained a lot, we have higher expectations and greater goals. Dopamine does not produce pleasure, but desire, the feeling of being constantly wanted. It allows us to take a longer view and pursue higher goals, but it also makes people have endless desires and no idea of ​​satisfaction. It can not only let you experience the joy of success, but also make success become ordinary; it can let you invest in a relationship, but it can also let the original deep love be worn away by the years; it can let you gain a super long IQ, but it can also make you One step away from madness.

So, how does this strange chemical substance control human desires, imagination, impulses, and creativity? How does it become ubiquitous and affect every aspect of our lives? Let's look down.

2. The power of dopamine

Dopamine drives us to overcome complex situations, adversity, emotions and pain, allowing us to control the surrounding environment. Its function comes from the needs of evolution and survival. It encourages us to maximize our resources, so when we do one thing better and make our future a better, safer place, dopamine rewards us and gives us a little "up" "Feeling.

Some people are naturally better at suppressing their emotions than others. In fact, it's innate, in part because they have an unusual number and properties of dopamine receptors . Dopamine receptors are molecules in the brain that respond when dopamine is released. Depending on the genetic profile, the dopamine receptor profile will also vary.

Scientists named this wonderful guy the "happy molecule", and the pathway that produces dopamine in the brain is called the "reward circuit." Understanding these problems is crucial to controlling our lives, desires, and how to achieve happiness in marriage and relationships. After all, only by knowing how dopamine works can we solve problems at their root cause.

Next, let’s use the following three aspects to explain the role of dopamine.

First, for love:

Dopamine is one of the instigators of love and the source of all sparks. The goal of dopamine, a neurotransmitter, is to maximize future rewards and set us on the path to love—it gives us a cathartic outlet for our desires, and love can start with dopamine, but it can’t end with dopamine. Dopamine is never satisfied, it just says "I want more."

Why does extramarital affairs occur? When our expectations have been realized and the excitement and mystery of the unknown have become familiar, dopamine will leave us, and we will begin to feel bored with what we have now. This is probably why many people are in love. Then the reasons for the breakup came up, and the reasons they gave were very simple and felt bland.

Some people cannot maintain a long-term relationship due to the disappearance of dopamine. The disappearance of dopamine means the disappearance of novelty and excitement. It also means that it is time to change a partner and find new prey.

But the answer will never lie with the next handsome guy or beauty. If you don’t know how to cherish what you have now, you will only get the next disappointing result. After falling in love, what do you rely on to maintain your relationship?

Another term "present molecules" is mentioned in the book. Present molecules include serotonin, oxytocin, endorphins and endocannabinoids. In contrast to bringing pleasure to the future through dopamine, present molecules will make We pay attention to our current life and everything we have now. When the present molecules are activated, we prefer to experience the happiness that the real world brings to us and enjoy the pleasure caused by feelings and emotions.

At the same time, the secretion of dopamine will also be inhibited. After falling in love becomes stable, dopamine-driven love will transform into companionate love dominated by oxytocin (for women) and vasopressin (for men), allowing people to become more immersed in the satisfaction of the moment.

Second, for addicts:

In modern society, too much dopamine secretion will not bring us more happiness, because the current material life is good enough, and always being in the pursuit of material will inevitably Ignore the experience of happiness in the moment. Therefore, many people are unhappy when they have too much. They always want more and do not enjoy what they have. They are always in this feeling of chasing.

are like many house slaves who own many houses, but do not decorate each one properly and live a very careless life. Pamine will not stop because of what it already has, but will try to chase the joy of more possibilities and stimulation.

If a person is used to getting "dopamine happiness", he will gradually lose interest in exploration, and it will be difficult to spend time and patience to do things that continue to invest, let alone obtain lasting and long-term happiness.

Third, for those who are addicted to video games:

Dopamine brings temporary happiness. Even after the pleasure, there is no sense of gain and it slowly becomes empty, and it is unable to cope with pressure. A lot of time is spent on TikTok, playing games, and gossiping, chasing short-term happiness and instant gratification feedback, and the brain gradually becomes less diligent in thinking.

seems to be getting more comfortable, but it is going downhill. In fact, it’s endorphins that really bring us peace and happiness. The happiness that makes people feel grounded and satisfied is "endorphin happiness". It is different from dopamine happiness. It has a high threshold and requires continuous effort and perseverance.

When there is no feedback and the result is unknown, loneliness, pain, and exhaustion persevere, but once this threshold is crossed, the body produces endorphins, which makes people feel happy. This is obtained after a certain amount of effort, which can generate compound interest in life, allow people to grow, and is long-term and lasting happiness.

People actually need to live a balanced life, just like the golden mean said in the Analects of Confucius. Too much dopamine will make people immersed in the pursuit of desire, and too little dopamine will make people satisfied with the present. In your life, you don’t want to make progress.

Therefore, it is better to achieve a balanced state. Everyone should be aware of their own mentality, whether they are greedy for pleasure or addicted to desire. If they make appropriate adjustments in the opposite direction, their lives will be happier. Although the author calls dopamine greed, we can also find in the book that dopamine is extremely important for human development and life. Everything has two sides, and moderation is best.

This book transforms profound scientific theories into simple and easy-to-understand stories to tell us. Simple and easy to understand, yet interesting. If you like it, give it a look.