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Peter C. WhybrowSemel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, UCLA
Evolution, the Human Sciences and Liberty
Special MPS Meeting, USFQ Campus Galapagos Islands, June, 2013
.
THE ENTREPRENEURAdaptive response to evolving opportunity
GRAPHIC: THE ECONOMIST DECEMBER 13, 2003
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ROSEMARY AND PETER GRANT
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DAPHNE MAJ OR
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DARWINS FINCHES --- FROM A COMMON SOUTH AMERICAN ANCESTRY
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The brain is a transducer
Fundamentally behavior is the expression of biological
drive in interaction with environmental circumstance
Through natural selection that interaction in turnshapes biology and subsequently modifies behavior
in an ever evolving cycle
This evolution trends toward an extended order
of adaptive equilibrium.
AS FRIEDRICH HAYEK DESCRIBED IN THE SENSORY ORDER, 1952
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SO WHO ARE WE?
Graph credit Dr. William Stanton
ENLIGHTENMENT
INDUSTRIALIZATIONFOSSIL FUELS
THE AGE OF MAN
SCARCITY
ABUNDANCE
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Homo ergasterAfrican branch of Homo erectus
Neanderthal
Homo sapiens
AS MEMBERS OF THE HOMINID LINE..
.WE ARE THE J OHNNY-COME-LATELY
After Naish, Schaubelt and Kieser: Landesmuseum, Darmstadt, Germany. (2005)
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FROM MACLEAN: THE TRIUNE BRAIN
SURVIVAL
INSTINCTS &
MAINTENANCE
INSTINCTUAL BEHAVIORS ARE SHAPED BY ENVIRONMENTAL CIRCUMSTANCE & EXPERIENCE
CHOICE &
SOCIAL
BEHAVIORS
OUR BEHAVIOR IS BEST UNDERSTOOD THROUGH THE LENS OF EVOLUTION
THE TRIUNE BRAIN
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CHOICE & ACTIONPERCEPTION
AFTER FUSTER: CORTEX AND MIND
THE BRAIN IS A TRANSDUCER: HABIT AND MEMORY ARE KEY
MATURES IN2-3 DECADES
Limbicstructures
IT IS THROUGH HABIT AND MEMORY THAT WE IMAGINE THE FUTURE AND GIVE MEANING TO CHOICE
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RISKassessment
ACTIONtaken
REWARD
PUNISHMENT
Perception ofOPPORTUNITY
PLEASURE
FEAR
POSITIVE FEEDBACK LOOP
NEGATIVE FEEDBACK LOOP
MEMORY
MEMORY
OPPORTUNITY, RISK AND THE PERCEPTION-ACTION CYCLE
Neurobiology of Entrepreneurial Behavior
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Entrepreneur
The Oxford Shorter English Dictionary
1. The director of a musical institution.
2. A person who organizes entertainment.
3. An individual who undertakes or controls a businessor enterprise and who bears the risk of profit or loss.
4. A contractor who acts as an intermediary.
J ohn Law (1671-1729)
Richard Cantillon (1780s-1734)
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Born to a Scottish family of wealthy bankers 16711880s Born in Ireland of wealthy landowners
Father dies 1688
Duel over Elizabeth Villierskills Wilson 1694Imprisonedescapes to Amsterdam
1703 Moves to France, CitizenshipReturns to Scotland. Seeks National Bank 1707Failure. Moves to France
1711 In Spain working for Great Britain
Appointed Controller of Finance 1715 Returns to Paris, Bankingsuccessful career lending money
Bank General formed . Paper credit 1716 Becomes involved with J ohn Law and theMississippi Company founded the Mississippi company
Mississippi Bubble.collapse 1720 Rides the bubble- makes fortuneDismissed flees France
Impoverished. Lives as a gambler Pursued by those who lost money inthe scheme.
Dies in Venice 17291730 Writes essay on Economic Theory1734 Dies mysteriously in a London fire
JOHN LAW (1671-1729) RICHARD CANTILLON (1688s -1734)
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CREATIVE INTELLIGENT
CURIOUS RESTLESS
IMAGINATIVE INNOVATIVE
AMBITIOUS RESOURCEFUL
DRIVEN PERSISTENT
PASSIONATE IMPULSIVE
RISK TAKER GAMBLER
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RISKassessment
ACTIONtaken
REWARD
PUNISHMENT
Perception ofOPPORTUNITY
PLEASURE
FEAR
POSITIVE FEEDBACK LOOP
NEGATIVE FEEDBACK LOOP
OPPORTUNITY, RISK AND THE PERCEPTION-ACTION CYCLE
MEMORY
MEMORY
MYOPIC
VISION
Cultural Factors of Influence
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Ambition, curiosity and risk-taking.
Entrepreneurship and the Migrant Temperament
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It is odd to watch with what feverish ardor the
Americans pursue prosperity. Millions of men
are all marching together toward the same
point on the horizon; their languages,
religions, and mores are different, but they
have one common aim. They have been told
that fortune is to be found somewhere toward
the west, and they hasten to seek it
Democracy in America, 1835.
Alexis de Tocqueville:
About the same time that Darw in
was wandering about in the Beagle,
De Tocqueville was investigatingPrisons in the US
(1805-1859)
ADAM SMITHS ENGINES OF ECONOMICGROWTH--SELF-INTEREST, CURIOSITY
AND PERSONAL AMBITION--AREESPECIALLY WELL REPRESENTED INAMERICAS MIGRANT POPULATION
THE
MIGRANT
MIND
The American Temperament:
A Mania for Prosperi ty
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Only 2% of the worlds people migrate.
Most individuals d ie with in 50 miles of where they were born.
Thus migrants are self-selected, largely by temperament.
In our own time America is the quintessential migrant cul ture,
the largest congregation of migrant people in the world today.
Ninety-eight percent of Americans were born elsewhere,
or into families that have migrated there within the past 300 years.
The other 2% walked there 10-20 thousand years ago.
Optimism, self-interest, curiosi ty and short attention (often descr ibedas restlessness or novelty seeking) and a vigorous ambition are the
best predictors of an migrs adjustment.
AMERICAN MANIA:When More is Not Enough
THE MIGRANT MIND: SOME FACTS
OPTIMISM & DRIVE!
70% of Americans believe that
with luck and the right timing they will
become rich and famous
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Self-love
Social
Sentiment
A FREE MARKET ECONOMY IS A SELF-REGULATING COMPLEX OPEN SYSTEM
Self-interest
Gods incomprehensible remedy
Curiosity & love of novelty
keeps in motion the industry of mankind
Social ambition (competition)
the distinction of ranks
INSTINCTUAL, REWARD-DRIVEN
BEHAVIORS
Sympathy & empathic awareness
The need to be loved by others
Peer recognition and social acceptance
The man we naturally love the most
is he who joins..to his own..selfish feelings
the most exquisite sensibility of others
LARGELY LEARNED BEHAVIORS,
CULTURALLY DEPENDENT
ENGINEINDIVIDUAL FREEDOM
BRAKESIMPARTIAL SPECTATOR
SMITHS INVISIBLE
HAND
ADAM SMITHS POSTULATE:
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THE NOREPINEPHRINE SUPERHIGHWAY MAINTAINS THE ALERT STATE
THE DOPAMINE (REWARD) PATHWAY MONITORS NOVEL STIMULI
THE SEROTONIN SYSTEM IS THE MODERATOR
NEURONAL SUPERHIGHWAYS & THE BRAINS REWARD SYSTEM
Amygdala
THE DOPAMINE REWARD PATHWAYS
DRIVE THE ENGINES OF THE MARKET
(self-interest; curiosity; ambition)THEY ARE EASILY HI-J ACKED& PRONE TO ADDICTION
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CHICAGO TRIBUNE; APRIL 27, 1997
EUROPEANMIGRATION400 YRS AGO
EVOLUTIONS GENETIC FOOTPRINTS
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CHICAGO TRIBUNE; APRIL 27, 1997
?
EVOLUTIONS GENETIC FOOTPRINTS
TheAncientMigrations
CURIOUSITY, EXPLORATION & RISK?
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CELL
NUCLEUS
CURIOSITY.EXPLORATIONNOVELTY.RISK
.THEN REWARD OR PUNISHMENT
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DOPAMINE D4 RECEPTOR GENE POLYMORPHISMS
Dopamine D4 receptor gene (DRD4), on chromosome 11, encodesone of 5 known protein receptors that mediate the post-synapticactions of dopamine. DRD4 displays high variability in the humanpopulation. The main source of this variability is a 48 base-pairregion that can be repeated 2 to 11 times.
The variable region occurs within the third cytoplasmic loop by whichthe receptor couples to the cells G-protein binding system that drivesintracellular adenyly cyclase inhibition.
The distribution of DRD4 mRNA in the brain (in contrast tothe motor actions of D1 and D2) suggests that DRD4 has arole in modulating cognitive and emotional behavior.
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DOPAMINE RECEPTORS (CODED ON CHROMOSOME 11) ARE AN EXTENDED FAMILY
.AND SOME MEMBERS ARE MORE SENSITIVE THAN OTHERS.
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RISK-TAKERSIn native Americans
the DR4-7 allelepredominates
CHICAGO TRIBUNE; APRIL 27, 1997
In the ancient migrations, the risk taking gene
(the dopamine receptor 4-7 allele) is associated with the dis tance traveled
THE DR4-7 REPEAT ISASSOCIATED WITH
RISK-TAKING
EVOLUTIONS GENETIC FOOTPRINTS
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SOURCE: CHANG et al, THE WORLDWIDE DISTRIBUTION OF ALLELE FREQUENCIESAT THE HUMAN DOPAMINE D4 RECEPTOR LOCUS. HUMAN GENETICS (1996) 98, 91-101
THE ANCIENT MIGRATIONS
AND THE RISK-TAKING DOPAMINE RECEPTOR ALLELE (DR4-7)
DRD4 DIVERSITY
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1-2-3-44-ALLELE
1-42-ALLELE 1-4-7
7-ALLELE
3-ALLELE
1-2-6-5-2-5-4
1-2-3-2-3-4
1-3-2-3-4
5-ALLELE
6-ALLELE
1-2-3-4
1-2-3-4 1-2-3-4
1-2-3-4
1-2-3-41-2-3-4
1-2-3-41-2-3-2-3-4
Multiple mutations
& gene conversions
DRD4 DIVERSITY: SIMPLIFIED MODEL FOR EXON 3, 48-BASE PAIR REPEAT SEQUENCE
ADAPTED FROM DING ET AL, PNAS VOL 99, 309-314, 2002
ADAPTIVEADVANTAGE
MOSTCOMMON
THE RISK TAKING DOPAMINE RECEPTOR ALLELE (DR4 7)
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SOURCE: CHANG et al, THE WORLDWIDE DISTRIBUTION OF ALLELE FREQUENCIESAT THE HUMAN DOPAMINE D4 RECEPTOR LOCUS. HUMAN GENETICS (1996) 98, 91-101
THE RISK-TAKING DOPAMINE RECEPTOR ALLELE (DR4-7)
MIGRATION & THE ATTENTION DEFICIT, HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER
In many studies the DR4-7allele has also been associated
with the ADHD phenotype
In 20043 million children
in the US were takingstimulants for ADHD.95% of the stimulantsprescribed in the worldare prescribed in the US
C SS O C S S S
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THE CULTURAL PERMISSION.AMERICAS MANIFEST DESTINY
WITH THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE (1803) AMERICAS WESTWARD MIGRATION ACCELERATED
AMERICAN PROGRESS BY JOHN GAST, 1872
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"Herd Quitter," 1897, Charles Marion Russell.
AND THE ENTRPRENEUR SAW PLENTY OF ACTION..
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BUT WHATS THE CONTEMPORARY CULTURAL NICHE FOR THOSE WHO ARE.
.....YOUNG, ENERGETIC, RISK TAKING AND NON-COMPLIANT?
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SENSATION SEEKING & FINANCIAL RISK TAKINGDOPAMINE D4 RECEPTOR GENE POLYMORPHISMS (ALLELES)
SENSATION SEEKING.THE NEED FOR VARIED, NOVEL, AND COMPLEX EXPERIENCES
Identical twin studies (9220 individuals) demonstrate thatsensation seeking is highly heritable, 45%-60%, in bothmen and women. (Stoel et al. Behavior Genetics, 36, 229-237, 2006)
In a study of 94 young men (Harvard) the DRD4-7 allele
was highly correlated with financial risk taking, accountingfor some 20% of the variance. (Dreber et al. Evolution and HumanBehavior, 30, 85-92, 2009)
In a sophisticated choice study of escalating financial risk(140 subjects) the presence of the DRD4-7 allele correlated
with those individuals who take increased risk under ambiguousand speculative circumstances, frequently heavily discountingfuture rewards. (Carpenter el al, Journal of Risk and Uncertainty42,233-26, 2011)
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FINANCIAL CHOICES BY DRD4 POLYMORPHISM..
(Carpenter el al, Journal of Risk and Uncertainty 42,233-26, 2011)
% cash in savings
Pay off credit cards
Debit over credit
Overdraft protection
Automatic bill pay
$ Needed onlycash withdrawal
DR4-4
DR4-7
IN HABITUAL GAMBLERS EXECUTIVE CHOICE IS HIJ ACKED
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VmOFC
VmOFC
Amygdala
+
-
+
-
VmOFC
VmOFC
Amygdala
COURTESY OF EDYTH LONDON PHD, LABORATORY OF MOLECULAR NEUROIMAGING, SEMEL INSTITUTE, UCLA
IOWA GAMBLING TASK
NON-ADDICTED
ADDICTED
IN HABITUAL GAMBLERS EXECUTIVE CHOICE IS HIJ ACKED
OF RISK AND REWARD: AMERICAS BUBBLES & BUSTS
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Financial Times J anuary 25th, 2008
DOT.COMBUBBLE
HOUSINGBUBBLE
BANKINGCRISIS
OF RISK AND REWARD: AMERICA S BUBBLES & BUSTS
BUT IS THIS ENTRPRENEURSHIP?
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BALANCING RISK & RETURN? EXPERIENCE (& PERHAPS GENDER) HELPS..
It has been suggested that more women would help..
(Coates, J M; Herbert, J . Proceedings National Academy of Sciences 2008)
One genetic study of 60 seasoned Wall Street stock traders,against age matched controls, showed no difference betweenthe groups in the prevalence of the DRD4-7 allele. Moderationwins the day. (Sapra et al, PLoS ONE, J an 2012)
BUT IS THIS ENTRPRENEURSHIP?
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NOVELIDEAS
WORKINGMEMORY
HABITINHIBITION
WITHCOGNITIVECONTROL
THE ENTREPRENEUR AND THE CREATIVE CYCLE
THE TENNENBAUM CENTER FOR THE BIOLOGY OF CREATIVITY
ATTENTION-DEFICIT(DRD4-7 allele)DYSLEXIAASPERGERSMANIC-DEPRESSION
HARNESSING MIGRANT TALENT
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HARNESSING MIGRANT TALENT
The optimism, curiosity, drive and vigorous ambition of the migrant
provide a foundation for entrepreneurial activity. But that optimismmust be focused and adaptive to todays challenge.
The successful entrepreneur is not a gambler but a passionate,
disciplined expert who sheds old certainties for new opportunities
in science, the arts, business, social issues and, yes, even in the
political realm.
But that energy and vision must be schooled.
Heres some encouragement: a new series ofdevelopmental studies
in young children has demonstrated that the Dopamine Receptor
D4-7 allele interacts with parent quality to predict effortful
self-control in four year old children. Thus, rather than being
dismissive of the migrant gene as a (ADHD) nuisance, in fact
it can remain adaptive, increasing a childs sensitivity to parental
guidance. (Sheese, Posner et al, Child Development Research, ID 863242, 2012)
(23% of Americans are immigrants: 40% of the Fortune 500 founded by immigrants)
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CHOICE & ACTIONPERCEPTION
AFTER FUSTER: CORTEX AND MIND
THE PERCEPTION-ACTION CYCLE INTEGRATES PASSION & REASON
MATURES IN2-3 DECADES
Limbicstructures
It is that integration that builds empathic understanding, responsibility and trust
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FOXP2 GENE(Forkhead box P2)
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EMOTION & ATTACHMENT
Emotion is a pre-verbal system
of communication that human
beings share with the primates
and other animals.
Charles Darwin.
The Expression of Emotion
in Man and Animals
in Man and Animals, 1872
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Entrepreneurial activity needs the oddballs,
the misfits, and the risk-takers
.
But what gave humans the edge and
still does is not the the iconoclast working
alone but the capacity to collaborate in
building adaptive strategy within largesocial groups.
Key to that collaboration is language.
Evidence suggests that it was theretuning of FOX P2 some 50,000-100,000
years ago that made the critical difference
in enhancing our ability to communicate
and to adapt to evolving opportunity.
.
In Conclusion.
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CREATIVE INTELLIGENT
CURIOUS RESTLESS
IMAGINATIVE INNOVATIVE
AMBITIOUS RESOURCEFUL
DRIVEN PERSISTENT
PASSIONATE IMPULSIVE
RISK TAKER GAMBLER
CHARLES DARWIN(1809-1882)