The Molecule of More

DOMINATION

can sometimes overwhelm us. When that happens, we make less-logical
decisions. Fortunately, dopamine’s opposition to H&N circuits can turn
down the volume on emotion. In complex situations, people who have
what we call “a cool head,” people who are more dopaminergic, are
able to suppress this response, and make more deliberate choices that
often work better. One of our evolutionary ancestors, one endowed
with a particularly robust dopamine control circuit, might respond to
a charging lion by suppressing the urge to panic, and instead of trying
to  outrun the  lion, he  calmly picks up  a  burning stick from his  fire  to 
frighten it away. When bold action is required in the midst of chaos, the
one who can stay calm, take stock of available resources, and quickly
develop a plan of action is the one who will pull through.

HOW TO DUCK A PUNCH

Although the complexities of modern society can make

the automatic decisions of fight-or-flight work against

our best interests, in more primitive situations it works

just fine. A young doctor talking to an irritable substance

abuser in the emergency room found himself unable

to comply with the patient’s demand for drugs. When

it became clear to the patient that he was not going to

get what he wanted, he threw a punch. Fortunately, the

doctor ducked, and before the patient had time to swing

again, help arrived in the form of two security guards who

were able to calm the patient down. When it was all over,

the doctor said, “I had no idea what was going on. There

was no time to think. It just happened.” He was pleased to

discover that he was the lucky owner of H&N circuits that

knew when to duck, no dopamine calculation required.

I took out my 40-foot boat with one crew member, and we sailed toward

open ocean. Soon we encountered 35-mile-per-hour winds and 10-foot