Why do we do the things we do?Over a decade in the making, this game-changing book is Robert Sapolsky’s genre-shattering attempt to answer that question as fully as perhaps only he could, looking at it from every angle. Sapolsky’s storytelling concept is delightful but it also has a powerful intrinsic logic: he starts by looking at the factors that bear on a person’s reaction in the precise … precise moment a behavior occurs, and then hops back in time from there, in stages, ultimately ending up at the deep history of our species and its genetic inheritance.
And so the first category of explanation is the neurobiological one. What goes on in a person’s brain a second before the behavior happens? Then he pulls out to a slightly larger field of vision, a little earlier in time: What sight, sound, or smell triggers the nervous system to produce that behavior? And then, what hormones act hours to days earlier to change how responsive that individual is to the stimuli which trigger the nervous system? By now, he has increased our field of vision so that we are thinking about neurobiology and the sensory world of our environment and endocrinology in trying to explain what happened.
Sapolsky keeps going–next to what features of the environment affected that person’s brain, and then back to the childhood of the individual, and then to their genetic makeup. Finally, he expands the view to encompass factors larger than that one individual. How culture has shaped that individual’s group, what ecological factors helped shape that culture, and on and on, back to evolutionary factors thousands and even millions of years old.
The result is one of the most dazzling tours de horizon of the science of human behavior ever attempted, a majestic synthesis that harvests cutting-edge research across a range of disciplines to provide a subtle and nuanced perspective on why we ultimately do the things we do…for good and for ill. Sapolsky builds on this understanding to wrestle with some of our deepest and thorniest questions relating to tribalism and xenophobia, hierarchy and competition, morality and free will, and war and peace. Wise, humane, often very funny, Behave is a towering achievement, powerfully humanizing, and downright heroic in its own right.
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Sapolsky’s Behave is another great book book from a talented researcher and writer. The scope of Behave is vast and covers such a wealth of information on human behavior.
EXCELLENT book. If you want to know about hormones, neuroscience, behavior and why people do the things that they do- read this book. I can’t praise it high enough- and I have earned my PhD in Neuroscience & Behavior. One of the best writers in this genre.
Best book I’ve read in ten–or more–years. Covers ALL the social sciences in a fun, but very thoughtful way. Anyone who has been to college will learn things that add to their knowledge–in their chosen field and elsewhere.
“Behave: The Biology of Humans at our Best and Worst” by Robert M Sapolsky.
This is not fiction. Sapolosky is a rare biologist in that he spends time both in field work studying baboons and in the lab doing molecular biology. He’s the recipient of a McArthur genius award.
The first 200 pages of the book are a review of neuroanatomy and endocrinology for the layman, and a couple of appendices are added to help. The last part of the book, and the part I really enjoyed, describes how the structure and function of our brain controls our thinking. The delayed maturation of the dorsal (upper) frontal lobe, responsible for reason, and the early development of the ventral (lower) frontal lobe, responsible for emotions explains the behavior of the 13 to 25-year-olds, and why the greatest deterrent to violent crime is a 30th birthday. The greater speed at which nerves transmit emotions may partly explain how a nervous or frightened cop can draw his gun and shoot someone before he is even aware the gun is in his hand. It also provides a scientifically based and reasoned rational for treating young offenders (up to about 25) differently than those over 30.
I strongly recommend the book if you have an interest in biology and how we think. If the first part boors you to tears, jump to the later part (~pg 200) to get to the meat of the book.
Dense
Great science book on a topic not often seen in popular press. Very informative, and easy to read (understanding the complexity of the subject means some work on the part of the reader).
A dense, but very informative, read. I learned a lot of surprising things.
This magisterial analysis is, hands down, the best comprehensive introduction to human behavior for general readers. Sapolsky’s subject matter can be devilishly complex — so it’s fortunate that he is one of the greatest popularizers of science that I’ve ever read. Take your time reading BEHAVE, and savor the wonders of human biology and cognition that you’ll find therein. Then hunt down all of Sapolsky’s other books and read them too, starting with A PRIMATE’S MEMOIR, the most heartbreaking book ever written about baboons.
Sapolski is a national treasure. A scientist/lecturer/author who delivers in a way that holds your attention.
Sapolsky is extremely knowledgeable and a creative writer about human behavior that makes understanding this complex science easy to imagine. At times serious, yet humorist, he draws a picture of behavior that is realistic.
Great accessible description of brain processes
Full of fun facts
Sapolsky has created a masterpiece that should provoke a diverse set of questions about common assumptions we make everyday that aren’t true.
He points out the ability to overcome the biases and prejudices that provide bad behaviors are very difficult challenges.
This is one of the best books I’ve read this decade, and it taught me more than any class in my lifetime.
Worth the time and effort you put into reading this primer on human behavior!
It’s not a fast read, nor is it an easy read. But the book is an amazing resource for understanding behaviour from micro to macro levels. I kept finding myself reading news paper articles and other books and noting how the behaviours described there were examples of Dr. Sapolsky was talking about.
That said, I wish for readers’ sake Dr. Sapolsky didn’t use abbreviations and acronyms so often. I understand that in conversation it’s much easier to say ACC than to pronounce Anterior Cingulate Cortex. But in written form, that objection goes away. I found myself endless having to look up the 1000s of abbreviations through out the book. I would have so much preferred to have everything written out — it’s easy to have one’s eyes slide over the long complicated phrase (there’s no need to even say inside the head when reading). But having to look up dlPFC, and ERPS, and SNPs was endlessly interrupting (not looking them up was endlessly confusing). So this is my one grrr for the book.
I’ve recommended this book to everyone now. It’s an amazing work. And if you feel like it’s too much in the beginning, it’s okay. It gets better and better as Dr. Sapolsky zooms out and changes scales from atoms, molecules, and cell to examples of human interaction. Wonderful book!
It’s different from Sapolsky’s other books, or most science books aimed at the general public, in that this is a deep dive into the subject.
Comprehensive,interesting,informative and thought-provoking.
I learned so much. The author filled the book with wonderful information about the brain.