The Molecule of More

16th International Symposium on Wearable Computers (pp. 80–87). Piscataway, NJ: 
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Chapter 7
HARMONY
Putting it all together.
In which dopamine and H&Ns find balance.
THE DELICATE BALANCE BETWEEN 
DOPAMINE AND THE H&NS
A middle-aged man went to see a specialist to have his depression treated. In 
addition to feeling sad and hopeless, he had an unhealthy obsession with the 
future. He ruminated over everything that might go wrong, constantly fear-
ful of some unknown catastrophe. His psychic energy was drained by the 
worry, and he became emotionally brittle. He blew up at the slightest prov-
ocation. He was unable to take the train to work because it was intolerable 
Do you wish to be great? Then begin by being. Do you desire to construct a vast and 
lofty fabric? . . . The higher your structure is to be, the deeper must be its foundation.
—Saint Augustine
I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and 
a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.
—E. B. White

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THE MOLECULE OF MORE
to be jostled or even touched by other riders. There were nights when his wife 
woke up at 3 
am
 to find him in tears. He said, “When you get a flat tire, 
an ordinary person calls the AAA. I call the suicide hotline.”
He was given the standard treatment for depression, an antidepressant 
that changes the way the brain uses the H&N neurotransmitter serotonin, 
and he had an excellent response. Over the course of about a month his 
mood gradually improved until he was once again bright and cheerful. He 
became more resilient and was able to enjoy the good things in his life. It 
was a relief to his wife, as well. He thought it would be interesting to try 
a higher dose of the medication, just to see what would happen, and his 
doctor agreed. “It felt great,” he said at his next visit. “I was so happy, 
there was nothing I needed to do. There was no reason to get out of bed in 
the morning.” He and his doctor decided to reduce the dose to its previous 
level, and his emotional balance returned.
The dramatic reaction this patient had to a serotonergic antidepressant 
occurs in only a few people who have just the right combination of
genes and environment. But it’s a good illustration of how a person can 
be disabled by both an excessive focus on the future and an excessive 
enjoyment of the present.
Dopamine and the H&N neurotransmitters evolved to work 
together. They often act in opposition to one another, but that helps 
maintain stability among constantly firing brain cells. In many instances, 
though, dopamine and H&N get thrown out of balance, especially on 
the dopaminergic side. The modern world drives us to be all dopamine, 
all the time. Too much dopamine can lead to productive misery, while 
too much H&N can lead to happy indolence: the workaholic executive 
versus the pot-smoking basement dweller. Neither one is living a truly 
happy life or growing as a person. To live a good life, we need to bring 
them back into balance. 
We instinctively know that neither extreme is healthy, and that 
may be one of the reasons we like stories about people who start out 
with too much of one or the other and in the end find balance. The 
movie Avatar provides an example of someone who starts out with too 
much dopamine. A former Marine named Jake is hired to work for the 

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HARMONY
security arm of a mining company. The company is intent on exploit-
ing the natural resources of a moon called Pandora, which is covered 
by undisturbed forests and populated by the Na’vi, a race of humanoids 
who live in harmony with nature. The Na’vi worship a mother goddess 
called Eywa. It’s a classic example of dopamine versus H&N.
To maximize the resources they can dig up, the mining company 
plans to destroy the sacred Tree of Souls, which is in their way. Appalled 
at the plan, Jake rejects his dopaminergic background, joins the H&N 
Na’vi, and develops close, affiliative relationships with members of the 
tribe. Combining his dopaminergic skills with his newly acquired ability 
to work together with the Na’vi, he organizes them and leads them to 
victory against the security forces of the mining company. In the end, 
with the help of the Tree of Souls, Jake becomes one of the Na’vi and 
achieves balance.
The classic 1980s movie Trading Places takes us to a place of bal-
ance from the opposite direction. Billy Ray Valentine is an irresponsible 
homeless man. He’s lazy, indulgent, and doesn’t give any thought for 
the future. He becomes the subject of an experiment in which his life is 
swapped with that of a successful commodities trader, who is his mirror 
image. As Billy Ray accumulates wealth, he rejects his former carefree 
lifestyle and becomes responsible. In one scene he invites a group of old 
friends to a party at his mansion and is uncharacteristically upset when 
they vomit on his Persian rug. In the end he participates in an elabo-
rately planned scheme that makes him rich, and returns him to a life of
leisure, but with a new set of capabilities.
How can the ordinary person find balance? It’s unlikely that any of
us will forsake the modern world to live with a clan of tree-worshipers. 
We have to find balance in other ways. Dopamine alone will never sat-
isfy us. It can’t provide satisfaction any more than a hammer can turn 
a screw. But it’s constantly promising us that satisfaction is right around 
the corner: one more donut, one more promotion, one more conquest. 
How do we get off the treadmill? It’s not easy, but there are ways.

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THE MOLECULE OF MORE
MASTERY: THE PLEASURE OF BEING 
GOOD AT SOMETHING
Mastery is the ability to extract the maximum reward from a particular 
set of circumstances. One might achieve mastery over Pac-Man, racquet-
ball, French cooking, or debugging a complicated computer program. 
From dopamine’s point of view mastery is a good thing—something to 
be desired and pursued. But it’s different from other good things. It’s not 
simply finding food, or a new partner, or beating the competition. It’s 
bigger and broader than that. It’s reward extraction success: dopamine 
achieving dopamine’s goal. When mastery is achieved, dopamine has 
reached the pinnacle of its aspiration—squeezing every last drop out 
of an available resource. This is what it’s all about. This is the moment 
to savor—now, in the present. Mastery is the point at which dopamine 
bows to H&N. Having done all it can do, dopamine pauses, and allows 
H&N to have its way with our happiness circuits. Even if it’s only for 
a short time, dopamine doesn’t fight the feeling of contentment. It 
approves. The best basking is basking in a job well done.
Mastery also creates a feeling of what psychologists call an internal