Year: 2025
Type: preprint
Abstract: Addiction is traditionally framed as a pathological hijacking of reward circuitry (DSM-5; ICD-11).Yet converging evidence in neuroscience, anthropology, and philosophy suggests compulsive drive is a basal feature of human motivation.This paper advances the thesis that addiction-like mechanisms underpinned civilization by canalizing repetitive, high-reward behaviors-tool-making, ritual, and social bonding-into cumulative cultural evolution ("cultural ratcheting").Drawing on dopaminergic reinforcement learning, dual inheritance theory, and archaeological case studies, I argue that addiction is an adaptive compulsion toward patterned action that, paradoxically, enabled large-scale cooperation.Three core insights structure the account: (1) dopamine mediates wanting (incentive salience) rather than liking (hedonia); (2) repetition induces Hebbian plasticity that automatizes behavior, shifting control from goal-directed to habitual systems; (3) cultural rituals harness these loops to stabilize group cohesion and transmit practices across generations.Civilizational outcomes-from agriculture to urbanism-thus reflect compulsive repetition more than rational calculation.I outline empirical predictions and a research program ("pro-social addiction engineering") to ethically harness these mechanisms for collective goods.
Author: Kyle Hyatt
Language: English
Subfield: Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
OpenAlex ID: W4413303759