The Molecule of More: How a Single Chemical in Your Brain Drives Love, Sex, and Creativity―and Will Determine the Fate of the Human Race

by Daniel Z. Lieberman

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 sort of more is worth having. It gives us the ability to construct plans—to strategize and dominate the world around us to get the things we want. How does a single chemical do both things? Think of rocket fuel that powers the main engines of a spaceship. The same fuel that pushes the rocket forward can be redirected to drive directional thrusters to steer the ship, as well as retrorockets to slow it down. It all depends on the path the fuel takes before it’s ignited—different functions, but all working together to get the spaceship to its destination. In a similar way, dopamine moving through different brain circuits yields different functions, too, and toward a common end: a relentless focus on enhancing the future.