"The Molecule of More" by Daniel Z. Lieberman

This is a book on Dopamine — the molecule that makes you want stuff. It doesn't make you high or give pleasure, yet we all crave it because of evolution. Here're my outtakes from the book:

• Dopamine is about anticipation.
• What's familiar doesn't trigger Dopamine.
• Our bodies and brains crave Dopamine more than anything else.
• Dopamine also motivates us.
• Dopamine doesn't have notions of good or wrong, only "get it".
• Here and Now neurotransmitters like serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphins drive pleasure from things that happen now.
• Spiking Dopamine is easy: get more than what you have anticipated.
• Dopamine acts subconsciously.
• People get sad when they get what they wanted, Dopamine goes down, but H&N neurotransmitters don't kick in.
• You don't need to like an action for Dopamine to go up; hence, you might crave what you don't like.
• Dopamine only works when ends justify the means: if you crave something bad but it's challenging to get, then you might override the craving and not do that.
• Winning competitions spikes Dopamine.
• Dopamine makes schizophrenia worse by giving salience to mundane events.
• Use mental time travel into the future to hijack dopamine circuits and make your brain crave what's good for you.

Everybody is a Dopamine junkie. Now, with this knowledge, one can persevere.