Literally everyone in these comments has an anecdote, but I remain skeptical. The jump from reduced-dopamine-production to heart-stops-beating is a little hand-wavy.
What is the concrete mechanism? For instance in the opening anecdote in the article, what did the girl die of?
Also I’m put off by statements like “this ability to construct a meaningful (or even possible) path into the future is related to our dopamine circuits”. This has the patina of science, but “is related to” is pretty nebulous and “dopamine circuits” are constructs of the scientists model rather than physical processes in the brain.
What is the concrete mechanism? For instance in the opening anecdote in the article, what did the girl die of?
Also I’m put off by statements like “this ability to construct a meaningful (or even possible) path into the future is related to our dopamine circuits”. This has the patina of science, but “is related to” is pretty nebulous and “dopamine circuits” are constructs of the scientists model rather than physical processes in the brain.