It’s ridiculous how many things Robert Sapolsky talks about beautifully. Here he’s on a roll about how dopamine drives behavior: It’s not about reward, but its anticipation. And we humans have done well — we’ve developed these splendid executive skills and planning and so on — because these big ol’ brains can maintain that anticipation for decades.
“There’s no monkey out there willing to lever press because St. Peter is down the line.”
It’s just 5 minutes. Go with it.
Dopamine Jackpot! Sapolsky on the Science of… by FORAtv
via The Dopamine Project.
