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  • 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 MD, Michael E. Long
  • Narrated by: Tom Parks
  • Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (143 ratings)

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The Molecule of More

By: Daniel Z. Lieberman MD,Michael E. Long
Narrated by: Tom Parks
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Publisher's Summary

Why are we obsessed with the things we want and bored when we get them?

Why is addiction “perfectly logical” to an addict?

Why does love change so quickly from passion to disinterest?

Why are some people diehard liberals and others hardcore conservatives?

Why are we always hopeful for solutions even in the darkest times - and so good at figuring them out? 

The answer is found in a single chemical in your brain: 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. 

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. 

From dopamine’s point of view, it’s not the having that matters. It’s getting something - anything - that’s new. From this understanding - the difference between possessing something versus anticipating it - we can understand in a revolutionary new way why we behave as we do in love, business, addiction, politics, religion - and we can even predict those behaviors in ourselves and others. 

In 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, 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 really are different.

©2018 Daniel Z. Lieberman, MD, and Michael E. Long. (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved. Publishing by arrangement with BenBella Books.

Critic Reviews

"One might consider it Freakonomics for the mind."— Greg Roth, "The Idea Enthusiast" 

"Daniel Lieberman and Michael Long have pulled off an amazing feat. They have made a biography of a neurotransmitter a riveting read. Once you understand the power and peril of dopamine, you’ll better understand the human condition itself.” —Daniel H. Pink, author of Drive and When 

"Meet a molecule whose fingerprint rests upon every aspect of human nature—from desire and drugs to politics and progress. Lieberman and Long tell the epic saga of dopamine as a page-turner that you simply can't put down."—David Eagleman, PhD, neuroscientist at Stanford and New York Times bestselling author 

What listeners say about The Molecule of More

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eye opening

information from the book seems mostly legitimate but some of the facts may be construed and seen in another way however the book was eye-opening and very interesting to say the least

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Too simplistic

This book is written for a non-technical audience and is easy to consume in audiobook format. But it's a case of when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. When examining everything in terms of dopamine, the authors, unsurprisingly come to see everything as a result of dopamine. In doing so they miss a lot of nuance. And as a result, the accounts of the various evidence they review is lacking, and their account of dopamine is long-winded relative to the few key insights offered.

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Riveting

If you've ever wondered why nothing seems to be ever enough and you'have been looking for a cerebral explanation alongside a spiritual one, this is the book for you.

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Really Good

Great listen, really good insight on the power of dopamine, why people may react the way they do. do reccommend.

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We need more of this thought leadership, now

The scientists of thinking and behaviour hold the key to the pressing need of today to understand ourselves better. The clarity in our impact to shape the world and opportunity to understand each other is the precipice at which we stand in our brief human history. This book serves as a wonderful part of the coordinates of where we travel next.

The science is sound and wonderfully woven into story. There are only a handful of books that I've found to be a deep well of helpfulness in understanding why I behave how I do, with hope for how to shape that in ways that help me. This book joins that collection.

Thank you.

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illuminating!

This book will challenge how you view a lot of your own behaviour and the behaviour of others.

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Very illuminating

A wonderful deep dive into the way dopamine has shaped society and what it means to be human. It brought me a deeper understanding of my own actions throughout my life as well. Highly recommend.

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Brilliant book

An incredible book that is packed full of valuable research that explains, in simple yet detailed terms, the impact of this incredible molecule on our lives. Both on an individual level and as a society

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Great book

Great book. It is an easy explanation of the complicated working of dopamine in brain functioning.

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An important book for understanding our modern wor

The book gives an overview and insight in to our brain from the Morphin motivation point of view. it's worth a least one if not two reads as can be complicated in parts. But gives answers too.

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