The Molecule of More

THE MOLECULE OF MORE

Rational decisions are fragile things, always open to revision as new
evidence comes along. Irrationality is more enduring, and both desire
dopamine and the H&N pathways can be taken advantage of to guide
people toward making irrational decisions. The  most effective tools are 
fear, desire, and sympathy.
Fear  may  be  the  most effective of them all,  which is  why  attack ads, 
commercials that portray the opposing candidate as dangerous, are so
popular. Fear speaks to our most primitive concerns: Can I stay alive?
Will my children be safe? Will I be able to keep my job so I’ll have money for food
and rent? Stirring up fear is an indispensable part of almost any political
campaign. Encouraging Americans to hate one another is an unfortu-
nate side effect.

WHY ARE WE AMUSING

OURSELVES TO DEATH?

In the provocative 1985 book Amusing Ourselves to Death,

media scholar Neil Postman argued that political discourse

was being diminished by the rise of television. He observed

that television news had by then acquired many of the charac-

teristics of entertainment. He quoted television newscaster

Robert MacNeil: “The idea, he writes, ‘is to keep everything

brief, not to strain the attention of anyone but instead to

provide constant stimulation through variety, novelty, action,

and movement. You are required... to pay attention to no

concept, no character, and no problem for more than a few

seconds at a time.’” More than three decades later, news on

the internet is the same way. Even outlets considered to be

serious cram their home pages with dozens of brief, provoc-

ative headlines. Most lead not too long, thoughtful material

for reading but to short, slick videos for watching.

Postman asserted that this poses a profound problem,

but he made no guess as to why we prefer entertainment