THE MOLECULE OF MOREactive desire circuit might be impulsive or difficult to satisfy,
constantly seeking more. His counterpart would be some-
one who is easily satisfied. Instead of downing shots at a
noisy nightclub, a less dopaminergic person might prefer to
spend the day gardening and then go to bed early.
Alternatively, someone with a highly active control circuit
might be cold and calculating, ruthless and devoid of emo-
tion. Her counterpart would be a warm, generous person,
who is more interested in nurturing friendships than winning
competitions. The brain is complicated, and the way in which
activity in one circuit is translated into behavior depends on
activity in many other circuits all working together. In addi-
tion to these examples, a dopaminergic personality can be
expressed in other ways that we’ll describe later. These peo-
ple all have one thing in common, though. They are obsessed
with making the future more rewarding at the expense of
being able to experience the joys of the present.SUPPRESSION OF EMOTIONIf you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you...
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”...
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it.
—Rudyard Kipling, IfEmotion is an H&N experience. It’s what we feel right here, right now.
Emotion is critical to our ability to understand the world, but emotions