Dopamine and Serotonin: The Dance of Seeking and Satiation

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Nematodes rely on dopamine to trigger a state of dwelling when they detect food, suggesting that there might be more food in the vicinity. This local area restricted search acts as an evolutionary advantage. Dopamine facilitates persistent seeking behavior, reflecting a basic algorithm for foraging. Conversely, serotonin activates when food is consumed, inducing rest and indicating satiation. This fundamental interaction between dopamine as the pursuit chemical and serotonin as the satiation chemical has evolved over millions of years but retains its core function in governing behaviors related to food acquisition and consumption. This duality can also be noted in modern devices like the Roomba, which reflects similar algorithms in their operational design.

In this episode, Nathan sits down with Max Bennett, author of the book: A Brief History of Intelligence. They discuss the five major breakthroughs in evolution that resulted in human brains and cognition. They delve deeper into the workings of each breakthrough, the evolution of intelligence, and how AI can benefit from understanding these principles. If you need an ecommerce platform, check out our sponsor Shopify: https://shopify.com/cognitive for a $1/month trial period.

We're hiring across the board at Turpentine and for Erik's personal team on other projects he's incubating. He's hiring a Chief of Staff, EA, Head of Special Projects, Investment Associate, and more. For a list of JDs, check out: eriktorenberg.com.

LINKS:

A Brief History of Intelligence: https://a.co/d/6VPWTf7

SPONSORS:

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X/SOCIAL:

@labenz (Nathan)

@maxsbennett (Max)

@CogRev_Podcast

TIMESTAMPS:

(00:00) Intro

(06:00) Max's background on commercializing AI in technology

(09:53) AI has taught us a lot of our intuitions are wrong

(11:22) Why we're better off avoiding defining intelligence

(14:38) The Five Breakthrough Model - steering, reinforcing, simulating, mentalizing, and speaking

(15:43) Sponsor - Brave Search API | Shopify

(18:20) The story of the first breakthrough - Steering

(21:40) Evolution doesn't have forethought and every generation has to survive

(23:05) The study of nematodes - how did this first brain emerge?

(27:10) yet in bilaterians, but the idea is you classify things in the world into good and bad.

(33:00) Netsuite by Oracle | Omneky

(36:16) The story of the second breakthrough - Reinforcing

(1:32:44) The story of the fourth breakthrough - Mentalizing

(1:45:57) The story of the fourth breakthrough - Speaking (pls listen to the audio book / read the book)

(1:46:46) How evolutionary paradigms will shape up in the future

(1:55:03) A unified theory of value or moral patienthood that can be applied to the five breakthroughs

(1:59:21) Wrap + Sponsor | Omneky

This show is produced by Turpentine: a network of podcasts, newsletters, and more, covering technology, business, and culture — all from the perspective of industry insiders and experts. We’re launching new shows every week, and we’re looking for industry-leading sponsors — if you think that might be you and your company, email us at erik@turpentine.co.