The Molecule of More
By Daniel Z. Lieberman

Winner of the Next Generation Indie AwardWhy are we obsessed with the things we want only to be bored when we get them?and Why is addiction perfectly logical to an addict?and Why does love change so quickly from passion to indifference?and Why are some people die-hard liberals and others hardcore conservatives?and Why are we always hopeful for solutions even in the darkest times--and so good at figuring them out?and The answer is found in a single chemical in your brain:and dopamine. Dopamine ensured the survival of early man. Thousands of years later, it is the source of our most basic behaviors and cultural ideas--and progress itself.and Dopamine is the chemical of desire that always asks for more--more stuff, more stimulation, and more surprises. In pursuit of these things, it is undeterred by emotion, fear, or morality. Dopamine is the source of our every urge, that little bit of biology that makes an ambitious business professional sacrifice everything in pursuit of success, or that drives a satisfied spouse to risk it all for the thrill of someone new. Simply put, it is why we seek and succeed; it is why we discover and prosper. Yet, at the same time, it's why we gamble and squander.and From dopamine's point of view, it's not theand havingand that matters. It's getting something--anything--that's new. From this understanding--the difference between possessing something versus anticipating it--we can understandand in a revolutionary new wayand why we behave as we do in love, business, addiction, politics, religion--and we can even predict those behaviors in ourselves and others.and Inand The Molecule of More:and How a Single Chemical in Your Brain Drives Love, Sex, and Creativity--and will Determine the Fate of the Human Race, George Washington University professor and psychiatrist Daniel Z. Lieberman, MD, and Georgetown University lecturer Michael E. Long present a potentially life-changing proposal: Much of human life has an unconsidered component that explains an array of behaviors previously thought to be unrelated, including why winners cheat, why geniuses often suffer with mental illness, why nearly all diets fail, and why the brains of liberals and conservatives reallyand areand different.