Dopamine Nation
Dopamine Nation by Anna Lembkeby Anna Lembke
Shares rank 12 of 50 popular science books by recommenders
People recommend it as a good, worthwhile book on dopamine and addiction, explaining how pleasure and pain are balanced in the brain.
People recommend it as a good, worthwhile book on dopamine and addiction, explaining how pleasure and pain are balanced in the brain.
6 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 6
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 6 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 5 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Good book on the subject
“There are some good books on the subject if you're interested”
Comment from 21 Mar 2026 in “Claude Code and the Great Productivity Panic of 2026” “Both excellent books and perspectives worth reading.”
Comment from 30 Sep 2026 in “Everybody’s home. No one’s coming over” “Dopamine nation is a good book on the subject”
Comment from 22 May 2026 in “Phone is making you bored” Explains pleasure and pain balance in brain
“She talks about how pleasure and pain and experienced by the same region of the brain and they need to be balanced.”
Comment from 7 Jan 2026 in “Google Co-Founder Sergey Brin's Unretirement Is a Lesson for the Rest of Us”
Other popular science books people recommend
The four most recommended other popular science books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gödel, Escher, Bachby Douglas R. Hofstadter | 47 | 10 | 82% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Thinking, Fast and Slowby Daniel Kahneman | 17 | 13 | 57% | 9 | — | — |
| Thinking in Systemsby Donella H. Meadows and Diana Wright | 17 | 0 | 100% | 8 | — | Approved |
| The Selfish Geneby Richard Dawkins | 14 | 5 | 74% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Dopamine Nationby Anna LembkeThis page | 6 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | — |
What people said
4 of the 7 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Both excellent books and perspectives worth reading.”
“Dopamine nation is a good book on the subject”
“There are some good books on the subject if you're interested”
“She talks about how pleasure and pain and experienced by the same region of the brain and they need to be balanced.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.