Zamzar

In your brain the down world is managed by a handful of chemicals—neurotransmitters, they’re called—that let you

experience satisfaction and enjoy whatever you have in the here and now.

But when you turn your attention to the world of up, your brain relies on a

different chemical—a single molecule—that not only allows you to move

beyond the realm of what’s at your fingertips, but also motivates you to pursue, to control, and to possess the world beyond your immediate grasp. It

drives you to seek out those things far away, both physical things and things

you cannot see, such as knowledge, love, and power.

Those down chemicals—call them the Here & Now s—allow you to experience what’s in front of you. They enable you to savor and enjoy, or perhaps to fight or run away, right now. The up chemical is different. It makes you desire what you don’t yet have, and drives you to seek new

things. It rewards you when you obey it, and makes you suffer when you

don’t. It is the source of creativity and, further along the spectrum, madness;

it is the key to addiction and the path to recovery; it is the bit of biology that

makes an ambitious executive sacrifice everything in pursuit of success,

It is why we look into the sky for redemption and God; it is why heaven is

above and earth is below. It is fuel for the motor of our dreams; it is the source of our despair when we fail. It is why we seek and succeed; it is why

we discover and prosper.

It is also why we are never happy for very long.

Carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, plus a single nitrogen atom

This is dopamine, and it narrates no less than the story of

human behavior.

Love is a need, a craving, a drive to seek life’s greatest prize.

—Helen Fisher, biological anthropologist

Please, master, teach me how to bullshit.”

Oh.” He inches farther away. “Uh. Thanks for the offer, but…uh, yeah, I don’t drink coffee.”

I stare at the coffee cup in his hand

I can’t remember her name. Probably because I’ve never bothered to ask for it. She’s cute, though. A helluva lot cuter than I realized. Pretty face, dark hair, smokin’ body—shit, how have I never noticed that body before?

But I’m noticing now. Skinny jeans cling to a round, perky ass that just screams “squeeze me,” and her V-neck sweater hugs a seriously impressive rack. I don’t have time to admire either of those appealing visuals because she catches me staring and a frown touches her mouth.