The Molecule of More

THE MOLECULE OF MORE

a high degree of precision. The muscles on one side of the joint need
to  contract with a  specific and  constantly changing strength, while the 
opposing ones have to relax in a constantly changing manner. Muscles
are  made of individual fibers. There are  a  quarter million of them 
in your biceps alone. The strength of contraction depends on what
percent of these fibers are  being activated, so  each fiber needs to  be 
controlled separately. To scratch your head, your brain must control
millions of muscle fibers throughout your body. It  must make sure  they 
are all properly coordinated with each other and dynamically modify
the relative strength of contraction over the course of the movement.
That requires a lot of brainpower. Probably more than you knew you
had. It’s not dopamine, but it’s still you.
Much of what we do throughout the day is automatic. We walk
out the door and go to work with little intentional thought. We drive
cars, feed ourselves, laugh, smile, frown, slouch, and do thousands
of other things without having to think about them. We do so much
that bypasses the part of the brain that weighs options and makes
choices, that an argument could be made that those non-conscious
actions—non-dopaminergic activities—represent who we really are.

SHE’S NOT HERSELF TODAY

The  people we  know and  love  all  have special characteristics that  define 

who they are. Some of those characteristics arise from dopamine activ-

ity. We might say, “He’s always there when you need him.” But often

a person’s unconscious, non-dopaminergic actions are even more pre-

cious to us. We might say things like, “She’s always happy. No matter

how bad I feel, she can cheer me up.” “I love the way he smiles.” “She

has  the most bizarre sense of humor.” “There’s something about the 

way he walks that is so him.”

The  way  those individual muscle fibers contract to  get  our  arm  up 

to our head when we scratch might not seem particularly relevant to the

essence of our being, but our friends might disagree. Each one of us

has a unique way of moving. We’re usually unaware of these habits, but