Oddbean

When we win a bet, or our stock goes up, our brain marks the occasion by releasing dopamine, and we feel a rush of pleasure. The dopamine release is triggered not by the winning, but by the anticipation of winning — the wager itself. Losing is essential to the experience, in fact, because the uncertainty of the outcome makes the wager more exciting, leading to greater dopamine releases. If we won every time, we’d still play, because we want the money, but we wouldn’t enjoy it so much. It would be that increasingly perverse thing you do for guaranteed reward … work. Gambling is our brain tricking us into thinking losing money is pleasurable. https://www.profgalloway.com/dopa-bowl/