Jonathan Haidt

Dopamine is sometimes said to be a neurotransmitter of reward, but it's not reward like I did something, I get a reward. There's no satiation. Exactly. It's the opposite of satiation. It's really more a neurotransmitter of motivation. You do something, it feels good. And your brain says, oh, that felt good. Let's do it again. which in our ancestral environment was good.

Dopamine is sometimes said to be a neurotransmitter of reward, but it's not reward like I did something, I get a reward. There's no satiation. Exactly. It's the opposite of satiation. It's really more a neurotransmitter of motivation. You do something, it feels good. And your brain says, oh, that felt good. Let's do it again. which in our ancestral environment was good.

Dopamine is sometimes said to be a neurotransmitter of reward, but it's not reward like I did something, I get a reward. There's no satiation. Exactly. It's the opposite of satiation. It's really more a neurotransmitter of motivation. You do something, it feels good. And your brain says, oh, that felt good. Let's do it again. which in our ancestral environment was good.

Like you taste something like, ooh, it tastes sweet. Let's have more and more and more. Grab it all.

Like you taste something like, ooh, it tastes sweet. Let's have more and more and more. Grab it all.

Like you taste something like, ooh, it tastes sweet. Let's have more and more and more. Grab it all.

That's the key word is deficit. So I'm now studying educational technology because our schools are stuffed full of ed tech and a lot of it is gamified. Hey, let's teach kids math. Let's make it a fun game where they get rewards. If you do that, you'll get more engagement, but there's a cost. The more activities we give our kids that lead them to quick dopamine, which is you do

That's the key word is deficit. So I'm now studying educational technology because our schools are stuffed full of ed tech and a lot of it is gamified. Hey, let's teach kids math. Let's make it a fun game where they get rewards. If you do that, you'll get more engagement, but there's a cost. The more activities we give our kids that lead them to quick dopamine, which is you do

That's the key word is deficit. So I'm now studying educational technology because our schools are stuffed full of ed tech and a lot of it is gamified. Hey, let's teach kids math. Let's make it a fun game where they get rewards. If you do that, you'll get more engagement, but there's a cost. The more activities we give our kids that lead them to quick dopamine, which is you do

Do something simple, you get a reward. Do something simple, get a reward. Like a slot machine, like social media, you never know what's going to come, but sometimes it's good. If you gamify a quarter of a kid's day, that's a lot of quick dopamine. The brain is going to react by down-regulating dopamine neurons so that they're less sensitive to dopamine.

Do something simple, you get a reward. Do something simple, get a reward. Like a slot machine, like social media, you never know what's going to come, but sometimes it's good. If you gamify a quarter of a kid's day, that's a lot of quick dopamine. The brain is going to react by down-regulating dopamine neurons so that they're less sensitive to dopamine.

Do something simple, you get a reward. Do something simple, get a reward. Like a slot machine, like social media, you never know what's going to come, but sometimes it's good. If you gamify a quarter of a kid's day, that's a lot of quick dopamine. The brain is going to react by down-regulating dopamine neurons so that they're less sensitive to dopamine.

And so now when you take away the gamification, now they're in a deficit state, which means everything is boring and unpleasant.

And so now when you take away the gamification, now they're in a deficit state, which means everything is boring and unpleasant.

And so now when you take away the gamification, now they're in a deficit state, which means everything is boring and unpleasant.

Not on everything, but on anything that involves dopamine.

Not on everything, but on anything that involves dopamine.

Not on everything, but on anything that involves dopamine.

If you think about what you might call quick dopamine versus slow dopamine. So slow dopamine is, suppose a boy sets out to build a treehouse or a racing car. Every time it makes progress, that's rewarding. But you're going towards the goal. You're keeping focused. Now, this is what executive function is. Executive function is the ability to say, here's my goal. I'm going to do the hard work.

If you think about what you might call quick dopamine versus slow dopamine. So slow dopamine is, suppose a boy sets out to build a treehouse or a racing car. Every time it makes progress, that's rewarding. But you're going towards the goal. You're keeping focused. Now, this is what executive function is. Executive function is the ability to say, here's my goal. I'm going to do the hard work.