THE MOLECULE OF MOREreal world. This process is called mental time travel. Using imagination,
we project ourselves into various possible futures, mentally experience
them, then decide how we’re going to get the most out of what we
see—how we’re going to maximize our resources, whether it’s a roomy
seat, a cheap ticket, or a fast ride.
Mental time travel is a powerful tool of the dopamine system. It
allows us to experience a possible, though presently unreal, future as
if we were there. Mental time travel depends on models because we
make predictions regarding situations we haven’t yet experienced. How
would my life be different if I bought this new dishwasher? What sorts
of problems might an astronaut face if he traveled to Mars? What
would happen if I ran that red light?
Mental time travel is in constant use because it’s the mechanism
for making every conscious choice in life. To the brain, each deliberate
choice about the future is a matter for the dopamine system and the
models it has created, whether you are deciding what to order at Burger
King or the president is deciding whether to start a war. Mental time
travel is responsible for every “next step” in our lives.
HOW DID I END UP WITH SUCH A
CRUMMY MODEL, AND CAN I FIX IT?Before the psychiatrist met his patient, a twenty-year-old college student
named May, her father came in to prepare the doctor for his first appoint-
ment with her. “She has never given us any trouble before,” he said. “She’s
a good girl.” May had been the perfect student. She was valedictorian of her
high school class and had been admitted to a prestigious program of study at
a nearby university. She had never gotten into trouble of any kind: no drugs,
no alcohol, no staying out late. She had always been respectful toward her
immigrant parents and had lived up to every expectation they had for her.
Now she was being discharged from the hospital after a suicide attempt that
had put her in the intensive care unit for a week.
When May came in for her initial visit, she was 30 minutes early
and waited patiently in the reception area for her turn to see the doctor. She