Dopamine: Neurochemical or 'master molecule of addiction' that controls or modulates the activity or 'firing' of arrays of brain cells, thus directing and 'fixing' attention by making attention either consciously or non-consciously have affective value or feel good. Since 99% of our time is spent waiting or anticipating things, dopamine is nature's way of giving us a lollipop to sooth and reinforce the wait.
Dopamine may also be called the master molecule of metaphor, since people are wont to assign any number of distinctive transcendent (e.g. higher consciousness, flow or peak experiences) or not so transcendent (e.g. cocaine high, mania) states to what amounts to a simple neuro-chemical fluctuation.
