Some behavior is predictable. Other behaviors are less than predictable. Dispelling many behavioral characterization myths is central to this book. Sapolsky analysis behavior using various viewpoints from neuron reactions to cultural evolution over the course of few millennia. The various viewpoints facilitate an understanding of the whole behavioral process rather than a particularly fascinating idea from an arbitrary boundary. Factors influence continuously as they are a product of what came before and will influence forthcoming factors.

Context shapes much of behavior. Aggression in a particular context can be seen as admirable, while in another context as shameful. Genes only make sense inside the context of the environment. Genes do not determine as much as normally considered and they do not command biological events. It is not hormones that influence aggression, it is a culture which rewards aggression. Hormones act mostly within the context of the individual’s environment. The brain will respond differently even with the same amount of hormonal activity depending on how it is set up.

There are no brain regions dedicated to particular behaviors or emotions. The frontal cortex is the last to mature and is the most shaped by experience. This makes human a very social species, as if the frontal cortex is meant to provide freedom from genes. Emotion and cognition may seem at times in conflict, but they are rarely in opposition. Normal function requires collaboration with them being synchronized if tasks require both components.

Self-control takes a lot of energy. When the frontal cortex works hard, it thereby uses a lot of energy, performance on forthcoming tasks declines. The brain is continuously making predictions about what is about to happen, and sometimes it obtains sensory information that goes straight to a certain behavior. The amygdala can sometimes see an object before the visual context can confirm it, as in, there are situations when the amygdala acts before processing certain information.

The book does a wonderful job at expressing prevailing myths and misunderstandings of behavior. More importantly, rather than expressing a simple version of behavior, Sapolsky expresses the complexity of identifying the meaning of the behavior. Complexity makes the book very useful to read, but many times, the way in which the author writes about the topics reduces the ability to understand the topic. Too many disjointed examples which at times include sarcasm makes it difficult to understand what the author actually wants to express. Although there are many parts which provide summaries for topics, the summaries are not sufficient in putting what has been learned together.

After identifying the neurons, genes, hormones, and cultural history which facilitate particular types of behavior, the author proceeds to show how people treat in groups and others (Us vs Them), and many other topics such as responses to authority and war. Each topic is expressed in its complexity and the various ways it is understood. Behavior still has a long way to go before it becomes more predictable.
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A careful examination of studies where biology intersects with behavior, both in humans and in other species. An argument for careful thinking and for tolerating each other into being better humans ( )

Monumental book. It definitely opened up new mental doors for me.

It is rare to find such a generous book these days.

For being non-fiction the thread is clear and captivating. You peel each layer of behavior (from the brain signals all the way to your culture). The last few chapters, the author makes observations and social commentary with strong ideas.
The one that struck me the most is that after understanding how much all the biological factors play into our behavior (you have to read the book), do we still have free will? is it still fair to shame and guilt-trip people for their shortfalls? The whole notion of “punishment” is re-examined and questioned. ( )

I got lost in the neuroscience but understand the genes versus the environment debate and am all the more puzzled about free will. ( )

With Robert Sapolsky you are never far from the outlandish and funny asides he makes on the place of humans in the animal kingdom.

In one footnote he ponders the origins and progress of goodwill as he sits on the john at a Starbucks waiting for the barista to bring him a fresh roll of toilet paper.

I can’t remember a comparable book which so ably itemizes that which affects human behaviour. From genetics and epigenetics, to gene expression, the role of life in the womb, evolution, how the brain shares tasks between lobes, how neutrons, synapses, and chemistry affect thought, the huge role that hormones play, to the sociology of hunter-gatherers and early farmers.

For all our research of the brain and the mind, though, science has thus far provided this means to predict the best and the worst in human behaviour. And it is clearly the worst in human behaviour that troubles Sapolsky the most.

I did not know before reading this book the extent of honour killings in society; that between 5,000 and 20,000 honour killings are perpetrated on mostly young woman and children around the globe every year. They are largely perpetrated by male relatives, and they are not just perpetrated in the far reaches of Asia. They happen in our own backyards. (I somehow knew this last point, but conveniently hid it away.)

It is no secret to Sapolsky that it is not the unequal distribution of wealth that builds resentment in our communities as much as the way we treat each other under these conditions.

Nor is it much of a secret that the one of the fastest ways to rectify imbalances in society is to improve educational opportunities for the poor.

Humans created poverty. It exists nowhere else in the animal kingdom.

Only humans commit genocide. Only humans characterize other humans as cockroaches or other low vermin.

And yet it is also only humans who can sometimes take the lead and inspire societies to greater levels of understanding and better the lives of the downtrodden. Think of Martin Luther King, Jr., anti-slavery activist William Wilberforce, Nelson Mandela, and Mahatma Gandhi. ( )