Charan Ranganath

Because otherwise you're going to, so like humans have this capability to be so much more creative than anything generative AI will put together, at least right now, who knows where this goes.

But it can also go the opposite direction where people could become much, much less creative if they just become more and more like resistant to discomfort, you know, and resistant to exposing themselves to novelty, to cognitive dissonance and so forth.

But it can also go the opposite direction where people could become much, much less creative if they just become more and more like resistant to discomfort, you know, and resistant to exposing themselves to novelty, to cognitive dissonance and so forth.

But it can also go the opposite direction where people could become much, much less creative if they just become more and more like resistant to discomfort, you know, and resistant to exposing themselves to novelty, to cognitive dissonance and so forth.

But I don't know necessarily that tracks people's happiness, right? I mean, I would argue that maybe, who knows? I don't know this, but I wouldn't be surprised if people in hunter-gatherer societies were I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if they're happier than people who have access to modern medicine and email and cell phones.

But I don't know necessarily that tracks people's happiness, right? I mean, I would argue that maybe, who knows? I don't know this, but I wouldn't be surprised if people in hunter-gatherer societies were I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if they're happier than people who have access to modern medicine and email and cell phones.

But I don't know necessarily that tracks people's happiness, right? I mean, I would argue that maybe, who knows? I don't know this, but I wouldn't be surprised if people in hunter-gatherer societies were I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if they're happier than people who have access to modern medicine and email and cell phones.

Or maybe cultural connection. Maybe it's about functioning in social groups that are meaningful and having time. But I do think there's an interesting memory-related thing, which is that if you look at things like reinforcement learning, for instance, you're not learning necessarily... Every time you get a reward, if it's the same reward, you're not learning that much.

Or maybe cultural connection. Maybe it's about functioning in social groups that are meaningful and having time. But I do think there's an interesting memory-related thing, which is that if you look at things like reinforcement learning, for instance, you're not learning necessarily... Every time you get a reward, if it's the same reward, you're not learning that much.

Or maybe cultural connection. Maybe it's about functioning in social groups that are meaningful and having time. But I do think there's an interesting memory-related thing, which is that if you look at things like reinforcement learning, for instance, you're not learning necessarily... Every time you get a reward, if it's the same reward, you're not learning that much.

You mainly learn if it deviates from your expectation of what you're supposed to get, right? So it's like you get a paycheck every month from MIT or whatever, right? And it's like you probably don't even kind of get excited about it when you get the paycheck. But if they cut your salary, you're going to be pissed. And if they increase your salary, you're like, oh, good, I got a bonus, you know?

You mainly learn if it deviates from your expectation of what you're supposed to get, right? So it's like you get a paycheck every month from MIT or whatever, right? And it's like you probably don't even kind of get excited about it when you get the paycheck. But if they cut your salary, you're going to be pissed. And if they increase your salary, you're like, oh, good, I got a bonus, you know?

You mainly learn if it deviates from your expectation of what you're supposed to get, right? So it's like you get a paycheck every month from MIT or whatever, right? And it's like you probably don't even kind of get excited about it when you get the paycheck. But if they cut your salary, you're going to be pissed. And if they increase your salary, you're like, oh, good, I got a bonus, you know?

And that adaptation and that ability that basically you learn to expect these things, I think, is a major source of, I guess, it's a major way in which we're kind of more, in my opinion, wired to strive and not be happy together. to be in a state of wanting. And, you know, some people talk about dopamine, for instance, being this pleasure chemical.

And that adaptation and that ability that basically you learn to expect these things, I think, is a major source of, I guess, it's a major way in which we're kind of more, in my opinion, wired to strive and not be happy together. to be in a state of wanting. And, you know, some people talk about dopamine, for instance, being this pleasure chemical.

And that adaptation and that ability that basically you learn to expect these things, I think, is a major source of, I guess, it's a major way in which we're kind of more, in my opinion, wired to strive and not be happy together. to be in a state of wanting. And, you know, some people talk about dopamine, for instance, being this pleasure chemical.

And it's like, there's a lot of compelling research to suggest it's not about pleasure at all. It's about the discomfort that energizes you to get things, to seek a reward, right? And so you could give an animal that's been deprived of dopamine a reward and enjoy it. It's pretty good. But they're not going to do anything to get it, you know.

And it's like, there's a lot of compelling research to suggest it's not about pleasure at all. It's about the discomfort that energizes you to get things, to seek a reward, right? And so you could give an animal that's been deprived of dopamine a reward and enjoy it. It's pretty good. But they're not going to do anything to get it, you know.

And it's like, there's a lot of compelling research to suggest it's not about pleasure at all. It's about the discomfort that energizes you to get things, to seek a reward, right? And so you could give an animal that's been deprived of dopamine a reward and enjoy it. It's pretty good. But they're not going to do anything to get it, you know.

And just one of the weird things in our research is I got into curiosity from a postdoc in my lab, Matthias Gruber. And one of the things that we found is when we gave people a question, like a trivia question that they wanted the answer to, The question, the more curious people were about the answer, the more activity in these dopamine-related circuits in the brain we would see.