Alex Hutchinson

And what's very interesting, one of the nuggets of science that got me interested in this topic that told me there's something more to say other than just like, hey, it's nice to discover new things.

is that if you look at populations around the world and you trace how far they've had to migrate, they had to migrate to get to their current location over the tens of thousands of years since they left Africa, The farther that population had to migrate, the higher the proportion of the explorer's version of this DRD4 gene, the one that makes people seek and like novelty.

is that if you look at populations around the world and you trace how far they've had to migrate, they had to migrate to get to their current location over the tens of thousands of years since they left Africa, The farther that population had to migrate, the higher the proportion of the explorer's version of this DRD4 gene, the one that makes people seek and like novelty.

is that if you look at populations around the world and you trace how far they've had to migrate, they had to migrate to get to their current location over the tens of thousands of years since they left Africa, The farther that population had to migrate, the higher the proportion of the explorer's version of this DRD4 gene, the one that makes people seek and like novelty.

And so at the southern tip of South America, you've got populations that have 80% of them have this explorer's gene. And in parts of Europe, you've got places where people have 10% or 20% have the explorer's version of the gene. So this doesn't mean that everybody in South America explores and nobody in Europe does. But it's a sign that this behavior is...

And so at the southern tip of South America, you've got populations that have 80% of them have this explorer's gene. And in parts of Europe, you've got places where people have 10% or 20% have the explorer's version of the gene. So this doesn't mean that everybody in South America explores and nobody in Europe does. But it's a sign that this behavior is...

And so at the southern tip of South America, you've got populations that have 80% of them have this explorer's gene. And in parts of Europe, you've got places where people have 10% or 20% have the explorer's version of the gene. So this doesn't mean that everybody in South America explores and nobody in Europe does. But it's a sign that this behavior is...

wired into us somehow because we all have the drd4 gene so we all have the same reward circuitry that makes us sensitive or attracted to novelty it's just some people have a higher a bigger helping of it than others

wired into us somehow because we all have the drd4 gene so we all have the same reward circuitry that makes us sensitive or attracted to novelty it's just some people have a higher a bigger helping of it than others

wired into us somehow because we all have the drd4 gene so we all have the same reward circuitry that makes us sensitive or attracted to novelty it's just some people have a higher a bigger helping of it than others

Interesting. So dopamine is super complicated, right? It affects our lives in many, many different ways. But you can think of novelty and drugs, for example. One way of thinking about dopamine is that you don't get a hit of dopamine when something is good. You get a hit when something is better than expected, right?

Interesting. So dopamine is super complicated, right? It affects our lives in many, many different ways. But you can think of novelty and drugs, for example. One way of thinking about dopamine is that you don't get a hit of dopamine when something is good. You get a hit when something is better than expected, right?

Interesting. So dopamine is super complicated, right? It affects our lives in many, many different ways. But you can think of novelty and drugs, for example. One way of thinking about dopamine is that you don't get a hit of dopamine when something is good. You get a hit when something is better than expected, right?

So that's part of the reason why it drives us to explore, because if you go in a place where you don't know what to expect, that's a great way to find something that exceeds your expectations. But it also, it's the same kind of thing that drives actually addictive behavior. You take a drug for the first time, it's, whoa, it's better than you expected. You want to do that again.

So that's part of the reason why it drives us to explore, because if you go in a place where you don't know what to expect, that's a great way to find something that exceeds your expectations. But it also, it's the same kind of thing that drives actually addictive behavior. You take a drug for the first time, it's, whoa, it's better than you expected. You want to do that again.

So that's part of the reason why it drives us to explore, because if you go in a place where you don't know what to expect, that's a great way to find something that exceeds your expectations. But it also, it's the same kind of thing that drives actually addictive behavior. You take a drug for the first time, it's, whoa, it's better than you expected. You want to do that again.

You take it for the 10th time, you know exactly what to expect. So there's no more prediction error. You don't get the dopamine hit. The only way to do that is to amp up the dose to get more because then you can surprise yourself. So there's a connection between a lot of risk-seeking behaviors and a lot of addictive behaviors, gambling behaviors. So exploring is great, but it's a... This...

You take it for the 10th time, you know exactly what to expect. So there's no more prediction error. You don't get the dopamine hit. The only way to do that is to amp up the dose to get more because then you can surprise yourself. So there's a connection between a lot of risk-seeking behaviors and a lot of addictive behaviors, gambling behaviors. So exploring is great, but it's a... This...

You take it for the 10th time, you know exactly what to expect. So there's no more prediction error. You don't get the dopamine hit. The only way to do that is to amp up the dose to get more because then you can surprise yourself. So there's a connection between a lot of risk-seeking behaviors and a lot of addictive behaviors, gambling behaviors. So exploring is great, but it's a... This...

this drive can be harnessed in productive ways. It can also lead us down some, some, uh, less productive ways.