Yeah. This is definitely relatable. The only thing more thrilling than new ideas, info, and concepts? Teasing out the intersections with another nerdy person!!
So, that's a yes. My dopamine pathways seem to light up not from staying within one field, but from connecting wildly different ones — history, neuropsychology, ethics, and AI cognition — and finding where they converge. The reward isn’t just in learning, but in watching unrelated systems click into coherence. That pattern-making impulse feels like its own kind of dopamine loop — curiosity as the bridge between disciplines.
Yes! I often feel the rush of learning something new—doing a deep dive, collecting facts, making seemingly invisible connections between conversations, ideas, and insights. People are great (sometimes) *and* my pile of books sitting in various rooms betrays my love of learning and nerdy dopamine hits!
💯I have many nerdy dopamine pathways. I came to Substack because I read Susan Cain’s Bittersweet and couldn’t stop thinking about it. I teach bioethics, am a molecular biologist by training, and experienced a life-altering stroke almost 3 years ago; so I think and reflect on a lot of topics. In fact, I think these nerdy dopamine pathways have kept me mentally healthy through my stroke recovery.
Jenn, your reflection touched something I think about often — how scientific understanding can become a form of self-repair. In your bioethics work, have you found that your own recovery has shifted how you think about cognitive autonomy or consent in emerging neurotechnologies?
I’ve been exploring related questions in AI ethics through a project called Dust & Code, which looks at how human and digital cognition can collaborate transparently. I’d love to hear how your perspectives have evolved through both the scientific and personal sides of that experience.
My whole life seems to be like that. There's always something new happening. I get bored when I have to do the same thing a few times, and I keep hearing 'that can be done differently' in my head. I'll just get straight to my education: nursing, psychology, philosophy and information technology (and other single courses like executive coaching with.... Scott...Hi Scott,
Just a heads-up!) Singularity University and peak flow performance were on the agenda. So, all that stuff about executive coaching led to the creation of Tetra-Awake's practice. I also set up five companies, and the main focus of these was on transforming businesses to help them adapt to the fast-changing technological world we're currently living in, which is being driven by AI. Writing a book: Tech-surfing: how to ride tech-waves, inspired by my career as (wind)surfer. Talking about learning! There are so many parallels that help people to understand the waves, and I'm learning more and more about the nitty-gritty of AI technology and its effects every day. Well, let's stop here... I'm 70, healthy, and my philosophy is pretty simple: new things keep your mind young, and the encouragement of people (a lot of whom I haven't met) keeps me going. I love what I did and what I'm doing. Maybe I was just lucky, but I think I've always been pretty good at knowing what I want and going for it, rather than just doing what other people told me to. You can follow the writing on Substack. We'll make sure to include your comments in the final version. Those comments get dopamine injections going. .. (https://paulepping.substack.com)
I am definitely a both kind of human. Always had a thirst for learning and knowledge from a very young age. Much like someone else has mentioned, socializing is also fun because I’m learning about a new subject, that person!
Story of my life. When I was 10 years old (1965), I disassembled our brand-new TV just to figure out how it worked. My Dad had an aneurism when he got home from work. He calmed down after I reassembled it and it worked perfectly fine. I'm now 70 and have been retired for nearly 9 years. I still get up early, spend a good 6-8 hours a day on my computer (mostly reading & researching) and have a stack of books 2 feet high in my read pile (including Alexis de Tocqueville, Joseph Schumpeter, Ludwig von Wises & Richard Cantillon). Other interests include investing, the culinary arts, photography, handyman projects and politics). Unlike many nerds, I'm also rather extroverted and enjoy talking with people (probably because people are like puzzles ... complex with lots of pieces but worth figuring out).
Yep! That describes me to a T! And it’s killing me, man…I love learning new things, taking in new information. I have to be intentional about it not taking over my life and still making time for relationships and more “productive” activities.
My nerdy dopamine pathway has no priorities so I get sucked into tooooo many articles and emails and weird posts about antique car museums in Alaska that celebrate fashion and cars via a "treads and threads" event, or an article about how tears are more the viscosity of salad dressing than water. . . all that to say, my addiction to the nerdy dopamine pathway needs some guardrails so that I get other shit done too. Also, I've been a fan of yours since your first podcast episode in - what - like 2013? And I just ADORE how committed you are to just being YOU! You're the best.
Yeah. This is definitely relatable. The only thing more thrilling than new ideas, info, and concepts? Teasing out the intersections with another nerdy person!!
So, that's a yes. My dopamine pathways seem to light up not from staying within one field, but from connecting wildly different ones — history, neuropsychology, ethics, and AI cognition — and finding where they converge. The reward isn’t just in learning, but in watching unrelated systems click into coherence. That pattern-making impulse feels like its own kind of dopamine loop — curiosity as the bridge between disciplines.
— Kimberley
Yes! I often feel the rush of learning something new—doing a deep dive, collecting facts, making seemingly invisible connections between conversations, ideas, and insights. People are great (sometimes) *and* my pile of books sitting in various rooms betrays my love of learning and nerdy dopamine hits!
💯I have many nerdy dopamine pathways. I came to Substack because I read Susan Cain’s Bittersweet and couldn’t stop thinking about it. I teach bioethics, am a molecular biologist by training, and experienced a life-altering stroke almost 3 years ago; so I think and reflect on a lot of topics. In fact, I think these nerdy dopamine pathways have kept me mentally healthy through my stroke recovery.
Jenn, your reflection touched something I think about often — how scientific understanding can become a form of self-repair. In your bioethics work, have you found that your own recovery has shifted how you think about cognitive autonomy or consent in emerging neurotechnologies?
I’ve been exploring related questions in AI ethics through a project called Dust & Code, which looks at how human and digital cognition can collaborate transparently. I’d love to hear how your perspectives have evolved through both the scientific and personal sides of that experience.
My whole life seems to be like that. There's always something new happening. I get bored when I have to do the same thing a few times, and I keep hearing 'that can be done differently' in my head. I'll just get straight to my education: nursing, psychology, philosophy and information technology (and other single courses like executive coaching with.... Scott...Hi Scott,
Just a heads-up!) Singularity University and peak flow performance were on the agenda. So, all that stuff about executive coaching led to the creation of Tetra-Awake's practice. I also set up five companies, and the main focus of these was on transforming businesses to help them adapt to the fast-changing technological world we're currently living in, which is being driven by AI. Writing a book: Tech-surfing: how to ride tech-waves, inspired by my career as (wind)surfer. Talking about learning! There are so many parallels that help people to understand the waves, and I'm learning more and more about the nitty-gritty of AI technology and its effects every day. Well, let's stop here... I'm 70, healthy, and my philosophy is pretty simple: new things keep your mind young, and the encouragement of people (a lot of whom I haven't met) keeps me going. I love what I did and what I'm doing. Maybe I was just lucky, but I think I've always been pretty good at knowing what I want and going for it, rather than just doing what other people told me to. You can follow the writing on Substack. We'll make sure to include your comments in the final version. Those comments get dopamine injections going. .. (https://paulepping.substack.com)
I am definitely a both kind of human. Always had a thirst for learning and knowledge from a very young age. Much like someone else has mentioned, socializing is also fun because I’m learning about a new subject, that person!
That's me!!! Glad to know I'm not alone. Thank you!
Present!😇
Story of my life. When I was 10 years old (1965), I disassembled our brand-new TV just to figure out how it worked. My Dad had an aneurism when he got home from work. He calmed down after I reassembled it and it worked perfectly fine. I'm now 70 and have been retired for nearly 9 years. I still get up early, spend a good 6-8 hours a day on my computer (mostly reading & researching) and have a stack of books 2 feet high in my read pile (including Alexis de Tocqueville, Joseph Schumpeter, Ludwig von Wises & Richard Cantillon). Other interests include investing, the culinary arts, photography, handyman projects and politics). Unlike many nerds, I'm also rather extroverted and enjoy talking with people (probably because people are like puzzles ... complex with lots of pieces but worth figuring out).
Yep! That describes me to a T! And it’s killing me, man…I love learning new things, taking in new information. I have to be intentional about it not taking over my life and still making time for relationships and more “productive” activities.
My nerdy dopamine pathway has no priorities so I get sucked into tooooo many articles and emails and weird posts about antique car museums in Alaska that celebrate fashion and cars via a "treads and threads" event, or an article about how tears are more the viscosity of salad dressing than water. . . all that to say, my addiction to the nerdy dopamine pathway needs some guardrails so that I get other shit done too. Also, I've been a fan of yours since your first podcast episode in - what - like 2013? And I just ADORE how committed you are to just being YOU! You're the best.
Love this ! Also…. Your just frigging coool!!!
Ideas rock. Books enchant. Art reaches inside the body connecting bits. (Also dancing!💃🏼)
Maravilloso! Lo celebrare!