The Molecule of More

(Jacob Rumans) #1
THE MOLECULE OF MORE

THE CHEMISTRY OF FRAUD

I know your noble nature hates the thought of treachery
or fraud. But what a glorious prize is victory!
—Sophocles, Philoctetes

I like to win, but more than anything, I can’t stand this
idea of losing. Because to me, losing means death.
—Lance Armstrong

In 1999, after surviving a battle with advanced cancer, Lance Armstrong
won his first Tour de France. A reporter for the New York Times described
him in a way that would come to be typical in the following years: “a man
of strong will and focus” who “dominated the Tour.” He went on to win
seven consecutive Tour de France races, dominating not only that famous
race, but the sport itself.
Armstrong was legendary for his determination. He preferred to bike
with a headwind because it made the course harder and gave him more
opportunities to outlast the competition. Author Juliet Macur described
Armstrong’s determination with this story: “[A tree] was once on the other
side of [his] property, 50 yards west of his house. Armstrong wanted it at
the front steps. The transplantation cost $200,000. His close friends joke
that Armstrong, who is agnostic, engineered the project to prove he didn’t
need God to move heaven and earth.”
“I think I would probably go crazy if I was 35 or 40 and didn’t have
some competition in my life,” Armstrong said.
In 2012, the world-champion cyclist was stripped of all seven
of his Tour de France titles when it was revealed that he had used
performance-enhancing drugs. Why would this legendary athlete cheat, this
man of steely determination who never gave up, even in the face of cancer?
Oddly enough, he may have cheated because he was so successful.

Dopamine doesn’t come equipped with a conscience. Rather, it is a
source of cunning fed by desire. When it’s revved up, it suppresses

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