{"id":28059,"date":"2022-01-13T12:09:53","date_gmt":"2022-01-13T20:09:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=28059"},"modified":"2022-01-13T12:09:53","modified_gmt":"2022-01-13T20:09:53","slug":"more-of-jesus-less-of-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/more-of-jesus-less-of-me\/","title":{"rendered":"More of Jesus, Less of Me"},"content":{"rendered":"

Daniel Lieberman and Michael Long, the authors of the book The Molecule of More<\/em>, explain and explore dopamine\u2019s role in human behavior. This book can be categorized under social science to analyze the essential functions of dopamine (the molecule of more) in current human behavior and society. The study of dopamine and serotonin has been around for a couple of decades now. Still, this book offers fresh insights into how dopamine functions in issues connected to love, drugs, domination, creativity and madness, politics, and progress in today\u2019s world. The author mentions that \u201cunderstanding dopamine turns out to be the key to explaining and even predicting behavior across a spectacular range of human endeavors: creating art, literature, and music; seeking success; discovering new worlds and new laws of nature; thinking about God-and falling in love.\u201d[1]<\/a><\/p>\n

This book took me back to many flashbacks I encountered in college as I read through this book. The first two years of college were a tsunami of dopamine release for me. The college years brought a wide-open gate into newfound freedom completely away from parents and church. I felt like one of those video game characters trying to open pandora\u2019s treasure box that opened up something new every time I found it and opened it. It was indeed a \u201cdopamine dream come true\u201d[2]<\/a> I had to keep pursuing more. And at the end of the two years of a dopamine rush, it ran out, and I was left with a broken and addicted brain, soul, and body. As I had the opportunity to travel to different places in the world for mission opportunities, I have also seen that in developed countries, \u201cdopamine-driven technological advances make it even easier for us to gratify our needs and desires.\u201d[3]<\/a> I see and experience these days that the need to do nothing and experience everything at the convenience of our fingertips, and VR is skyrocketing. At the advancement cost of capitalism and consumerism, everyone is now experiencing an empty and tired body and soul from lack of dopamine.<\/p>\n

The authors vaguely end the book by telling the readers that \u201cthe only thing that will save us is the ability to achieve a better balance, to overcome our obsession with more, appreciate the unlimited complexity of reality, and learn to enjoy the things we have.\u201d[4]<\/a> I would argue back that when people are trapped in a state of addiction and burnt out dopamine, they won\u2019t have the ability to save themselves and enjoy their things. At least, in my personal experience with God, it was God who gave me the opened eyes to see the darkness, it was God who gave me the transformation to crave God and not idols, it was God who gave me the strength to love and enjoy the things we have.<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Daniel Z. Lieberman, and Michael E. Long. The Molecule of More: How a Single Chemical in Your Brain Drives Love, Sex, and Creativity–and Will Determine the Fate of the Human Race. Reprint edition<\/em>. (BenBella Books, 2019), 3.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Lieberman and Long, The Molecule of More,<\/em> 54.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Lieberman and Long, The Molecule of More,<\/em> 204.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Lieberman and Long, The Molecule of More,<\/em> 208.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Daniel Lieberman and Michael Long, the authors of the book The Molecule of More, explain and explore dopamine\u2019s role in human behavior. This book can be categorized under social science to analyze the essential functions of dopamine (the molecule of more) in current human behavior and society. The study of dopamine and serotonin has been […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":145,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2160],"class_list":["post-28059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-liberman","cohort-lgp11"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28059","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/145"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28059"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28059\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28060,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28059\/revisions\/28060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}