The Molecule of More

Chapter 3

DOMINATION

How far will you go?

In which dopamine drives us to overcome complexity, adversity,

emotion, and pain so we can control our environment.

PLANNING AND CALCULATION

Just  wanting rarely gets  you  much of anything. You  have to  figure out 
how to obtain it, and whether it is worth having at all. In fact, when we
do things without thinking about how and what next, failure is not even
the worst possible outcome. The results can range from a little overeat-
ing all the way to reckless gambling, drug abuse, and worse.
Desire dopamine makes us want things. It is the source of raw
desire: give me more. But we’re not at the ungoverned mercy of our desire.
We also have a complementary dopamine circuit that calculates what

Impulse without reason is not enough, and reason without impulse is a poor makeshift.
—William James

One cool judgment is worth a dozen hasty councils.

—Woodrow Wilson