I was interesting in pinpointing the exact nature of the fun in play.
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If dopamine should be considered a reward, simply winning a game is rewarding. Many people play games they don't necessarily enjoy because they like the feeling of victory. Games can also serve to establish a dominance hierarchy.
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Replying to @AbstractMonkey9 @hardmaru
When we talk about dopamine, we mostly mean anticipated reward. The signals that behavior controllers send to orchestrate our skills refer semantically to reward promises, not actual one. The actual reward is only relevant for training.
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In biological terms, what does an actual reward look like to you?
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Replying to @AbstractMonkey9 @hardmaru
It is a signal type. At the lowest level, it probably translates into a function that integrates over metabolic success for individual neurons.
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And somehow the success of these individual neurons translates into elevated serotonin and upregulated testosterone for the victor?
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Replying to @AbstractMonkey9 @hardmaru
Testosterone emphasizes risk taking, and victory is only one of several correlates of risk. Testosterone regulates the intensity of natural selection against the individual that has it.
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How does testosterone regulate the intensity of natural selection? Increased testosterone seems to be nature's reward for dominance; whose consequence is enhanced strength, and, indeed, risk taking. This should lead to reproductive success.
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Replying to @AbstractMonkey9 @hardmaru
Only for those that don’t die in bike accidents etc. Don’t forget that modern men have very little testosterone compared to our ancestors, of whom only a small fraction hogged all the reproductive success.
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The way you phrase this post makes one better appreciate the balancing act between "not enough testosterone to even have a sex drive" and "so much testosterone you get yourself killed picking a fight with a gorilla". All men should strive for Goldilocks testosterone.
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The idea that you should regulate your own testosterone supply is pretty novel and may itself be caused by too much testosterone.
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Agreed. Although, even if one is not on testosterone replacement therapy, their body regulates their testosterone level. How much "juice" one is allowed to receive is dictated by a combination of their genetics and to what degree an individual is "succeeding" in their environment
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Replying to @AbstractMonkey9 @hardmaru
The risks one is willing to take in a competitive environment (of which some pay off) may be correlated to testosterone, but the prisons and other places of abysmal failure are full of it.
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