Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst
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- Create Date：2021-04-17 10:52:39
- Update Date：2025-09-07
- Status：finish
- Author：Robert M. Sapolsky
- ISBN：009957506X
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Summary
***'Awe-inspiring… You will learn more about human nature than in any other book I can think of' Henry Marsh
THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER / WINNER OF THE 2017 LA TIMES BOOK PRIZE
'One of the best scientist-writers of our time' Oliver Sacks
Why do human beings behave as they do？
We are capable of savage acts of violence but also spectacular feats of kindness: is one side of our nature destined to win out over the other？
Every act of human behaviour has multiple layers of causation， spiralling back seconds， minutes， hours， days， months， years， even centuries， right back to the dawn of time and the origins of our species。
In the epic sweep of history， how does our biology affect the arc of war and peace， justice and persecution？ How have our brains evolved alongside our cultures？
This is the exhilarating story of human morality and the science underpinning the biggest question of all: what makes us human？
THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER / WINNER OF THE 2017 LA TIMES BOOK PRIZE
'One of the best scientist-writers of our time' Oliver Sacks
Why do human beings behave as they do？
We are capable of savage acts of violence but also spectacular feats of kindness: is one side of our nature destined to win out over the other？
Every act of human behaviour has multiple layers of causation， spiralling back seconds， minutes， hours， days， months， years， even centuries， right back to the dawn of time and the origins of our species。
In the epic sweep of history， how does our biology affect the arc of war and peace， justice and persecution？ How have our brains evolved alongside our cultures？
This is the exhilarating story of human morality and the science underpinning the biggest question of all: what makes us human？
Reviews
Alexandra
，
Very technical book and could only get through about 3/4 but learned a LOT。 Very comprehensive
Mark Broadhead
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If you throw enough facts together you'll get a book like this， but not very readable。 If you throw enough facts together you'll get a book like this， but not very readable。 。。。more
Ana-Maria
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Although a long read， this book is one of the best I have had the pleasure of going through。 Robert Sapolsky has such a friendly， fun tone that makes the ideas he presents clear and urges you to stay curious about neuroscience and behaviour， no matter your level of familiarity with the topic。 I loved all of the things I got to learn from “Behave”， but perhaps the most incredible for me was the way in which our brain adapted several of its parts during its evolution， which used to be involved sol Although a long read， this book is one of the best I have had the pleasure of going through。 Robert Sapolsky has such a friendly， fun tone that makes the ideas he presents clear and urges you to stay curious about neuroscience and behaviour， no matter your level of familiarity with the topic。 I loved all of the things I got to learn from “Behave”， but perhaps the most incredible for me was the way in which our brain adapted several of its parts during its evolution， which used to be involved solely with processing the environment， to associating metaphors in our spoken language with the same emotions， depending on wether we are conditioned to find those pleasing or appalling。 Give it a try if you want to have an in depth understanding of why we act in certain ways， and the weird， mind-blowing influence of things that appear insignificant on our mood and attitude。Last but not least， the volume teaches its readers about empathy， theory of mind， and why it is worth working on these attributes to better understand others and improve our relationships。 。。。more
Michal Červený
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Jedna z najlepších kníh， aké som kedy čítal。 Vďaka nej viem napríklad aj to， že testosterón nespôsobuje agresivitu， ale vyplavuje sa， keď chceme byť frajeri。 A ak je pre nás frajerina to， že pomôžeme babičke s nákupom， vyplaviť sa nám ho vtedy môže rovnako ako v MMA klietke。 Ako píše Sapolsky: kontext， kontext， kontext。Ak chcete vedieť， prečo sa niekto správa tak， ako sa správa， týchto 600 strán môže byť dobrým základom。
Payton
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More science-focused than I was expecting and therefore took a while for my “bedtime reading” brain to get through it but good messages
Dirk Nachbar
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4。5 stars。 Sapolsky is a great scientist， he is like a walking encyclopedia。 This is a very dense book that maybe needed a bit more editing。 Sometimes it feels like reading a lot of paper abstracts。 Sapolsky has amazing wit and humour which does make it readable。 Maybe this could have been 2 or 3 books。
John
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A useful， detailed attempt to summarize the ‘why’ of human behaviour。 While Sapolsky lost me a few times （or I lost him）， particularly with his linkage between rodents and humans， this extensive work is a must for those interested in understanding others。Among many of his arguments， perhaps what was most enlightening is how much we don’t know about the biology of human behaviour。 Most scientific papers on the topic have only been drafted over the last decade or two。
Bill Theroux
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Definitely thick with information but， it didn't read like a textbook。 Very interesting way to look at why we do what we do。 Definitely thick with information but， it didn't read like a textbook。 Very interesting way to look at why we do what we do。 。。。more
Tyler
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He's a genius。 I love his lectures on YouTube as well He's a genius。 I love his lectures on YouTube as well 。。。more
Andre Furtado
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Uniquely describes how fascinating and complex （human） life is， from a neuroendocrine/social-science perspective， oftentimes with excruciatingly academic details which might warrant the book's summary to be read instead。 Uniquely describes how fascinating and complex （human） life is， from a neuroendocrine/social-science perspective， oftentimes with excruciatingly academic details which might warrant the book's summary to be read instead。 。。。more
Mary Kate
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Phenomenal。 I've never read a scientific writing so complex， touching upon and bringing together several different fields of study， yet also extremely digestible and entertaining。 Written and narrated （Audible audiobook） exquisitely well。 Phenomenal。 I've never read a scientific writing so complex， touching upon and bringing together several different fields of study， yet also extremely digestible and entertaining。 Written and narrated （Audible audiobook） exquisitely well。 。。。more
Juha Jokela
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Yli vuoden taistelu tän kirjan kanssa。 En suosittele kenellekään 5/5
Hossein Yazdani
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What a fantastic book。 I got answer for my questions， and even incredibly more so， I got answers for questions I didn't know I had！You ever wondered how does our brain actually work？ How much genetic or hormones can impact who you are and what you do？ Why people are the way they are？ Then this book is for you。The writing is easy to read and captivating， nerdy jokes which I loved， and scientific approach to help understanding ourselves。 I can't recommend this book enough。 What a fantastic book。 I got answer for my questions， and even incredibly more so， I got answers for questions I didn't know I had！You ever wondered how does our brain actually work？ How much genetic or hormones can impact who you are and what you do？ Why people are the way they are？ Then this book is for you。The writing is easy to read and captivating， nerdy jokes which I loved， and scientific approach to help understanding ourselves。 I can't recommend this book enough。 。。。more
Colleen Dilenschneider
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This book is big， scientific， and dense。 It took me a month of daily reading in small parts。 It’s also （in my opinion） truly fascinating。
Siskiyou-Suzy
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What a good， amazing， incredible book。 I love Robert M。 Sapolsky， like I love Lisa Feldman Barrett。 They know what they're talking about！ They use so much science and explain things so well！Seriously， this is the bar for what non-fiction books should be。 I mean， tall tall bar， but like， this is doing it right。 And it makes reading ones that haven't done it right so much harder。 I hate books that are fluff。 This is the opposite of fluff。 It's SOLID。This book is so good。 Robert M。 Sapolsky is so a What a good， amazing， incredible book。 I love Robert M。 Sapolsky， like I love Lisa Feldman Barrett。 They know what they're talking about！ They use so much science and explain things so well！Seriously， this is the bar for what non-fiction books should be。 I mean， tall tall bar， but like， this is doing it right。 And it makes reading ones that haven't done it right so much harder。 I hate books that are fluff。 This is the opposite of fluff。 It's SOLID。This book is so good。 Robert M。 Sapolsky is so awesome。 I want him to be my dad。 。。。more
Melissa
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I LOVED this book but got lost frequently in the details。 If i read this book again， which i would like to do， i am sure it will become a 5 star rating because the important nuances will be more readily understandable。 It took me awhile to get used to the tone and snark of the author。 I realize this makes me sound old。 ;）。 At first i didn’t hear him as an “us”。 Little inside joke。
Nitin Kishore
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 This book is time consuming and science heavy。 Some themes arise repeatedly which help you consolidate concepts。 Baboon examples are prominent because the author spent 30 years amongst them since they spend most of their time engaging in social behavior。 Social plasticity in primates can translate to humans and explain various behavioral patterns and how certain pseudoscience concepts or popular misconceptions can be used to explain away or rationalize behavior but not predict them。Almost every This book is time consuming and science heavy。 Some themes arise repeatedly which help you consolidate concepts。 Baboon examples are prominent because the author spent 30 years amongst them since they spend most of their time engaging in social behavior。 Social plasticity in primates can translate to humans and explain various behavioral patterns and how certain pseudoscience concepts or popular misconceptions can be used to explain away or rationalize behavior but not predict them。Almost every fact presented in this book deals with the average of what's being measured and there are variations。 Individual differences and interesting exceptions everywhere you look in scienceGenetics need transcriptions patterns and specific triggers or environmental factors for certain behavior。 It's not universal inevitability of behavior。 There are some traumatic conditions that can be passed down generations and it is pretty much nurture and not simply nature。 The prominence of the amygdala causing aggression and the prefrontal cortex helping us suppress those impulses through adolescence and misattribution to hormones， was enlightening to learn。 Testosterone only makes those individuals aggressive who were previously aggressive。 It is not a cause but an amplifier and it only happens in status seeking situations and not all the time。 Oxytocin or the love hormone can be reason for violence in many cases through out history too。 The book also goes into use of these Neuroscience factoids in law and judicial courts with examples of warrior gene， free will and unstable mental state plea。 The latter part focuses on the US vs Them philosophy and what the standard tactic employed by every nation or government is to sow seeds of this hatred。 Rwandan genocide was a perfect example better suited than auschwitz and holocaust。 More people should know about this incident。 One amazing trick to stop visualizing "them" as homogenous evil mass group is to think what their favorite food might be。 This disengages you from propaganda by realizing they are not all similar just like the "us"。 Since humans are between pair bonded and tournament species categories explains a lot about social and sexual infidelity。 I would recommend this as a definite read 。。。more
Paige McLoughlin
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I read this in 2019 and 2020。 Really enjoy Sapolsky and this book by him。 I will write a proper review when I read this again in the future which I assure you I will。 In the meantime， I will drop a podcast where Sean Carroll interviews him。https://m。youtube。com/watch？v=pcPZ0Z0。。。1 like · Like ∙ flagfollowing reviewsREADING PROGRESSFinished ReadingApril 13， 2020 – Started ReadingApril 15， 2020 – Finished ReadingFebruary 16， 2021 – ShelvedPost a comment »COMMENTSNo comments have been added yet。Not I read this in 2019 and 2020。 Really enjoy Sapolsky and this book by him。 I will write a proper review when I read this again in the future which I assure you I will。 In the meantime， I will drop a podcast where Sean Carroll interviews him。https://m。youtube。com/watch？v=pcPZ0Z0。。。1 like · Like ∙ flagfollowing reviewsREADING PROGRESSFinished ReadingApril 13， 2020 – Started ReadingApril 15， 2020 – Finished ReadingFebruary 16， 2021 – ShelvedPost a comment »COMMENTSNo comments have been added yet。Notify me when people comment 。。。more
Gavin D'Souza
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As a person who’s massively interested in Behavioural biology， this book has been a treat。 I like the anecdotes， examples and images presented。 Sapolsky’s thoughts can be super streamlined and yet somewhat over the place - and hence， having a conversational narrative going on while reading this book might help。 As a caveat， I would not recommend this book to people who find high end Biology terms difficult。 But if you wanna take up the challenge， it’s great because Sapolsky does help you out wit As a person who’s massively interested in Behavioural biology， this book has been a treat。 I like the anecdotes， examples and images presented。 Sapolsky’s thoughts can be super streamlined and yet somewhat over the place - and hence， having a conversational narrative going on while reading this book might help。 As a caveat， I would not recommend this book to people who find high end Biology terms difficult。 But if you wanna take up the challenge， it’s great because Sapolsky does help you out with its explanations - being the true lecturer that he is。 All in all， a delightfully long and painfully informative book。 I must admit to skipping chapters but I promise to come back to it whenever I need to quickly look over some of Sapolsky’s two cents about the brain and everything inside and around。 。。。more
Korey
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You aren't as rational as you think you are。 Some mind blowing stuff in here。。but a lot of textbook depth。 You aren't as rational as you think you are。 Some mind blowing stuff in here。。but a lot of textbook depth。 。。。more
Levas
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Jei būtų įmanoma vienai kuriai nors knygai duoti 6 žvaigždutes susimokėjus kokį nors mokestį goodreads per kokį penkmetį arba per tai， kiek laiko naudojiesi goodreads apskritai， tai šita knyga turėtų šešias。 Tai ko gero išsamiausias， didžiausias ir （galimai） objektyviausias skaitinys apie žmogaus elgseną įtakojančius veiksnius nuo smegenų sandaros， DNR， aplinkos， įpročių ir t。t。 Negaliu sakyti， kad viską puikiai įsisavinau ar supratau。 Visgi neuromokslas， biologija ar anatomija yra daugiau mano Jei būtų įmanoma vienai kuriai nors knygai duoti 6 žvaigždutes susimokėjus kokį nors mokestį goodreads per kokį penkmetį arba per tai， kiek laiko naudojiesi goodreads apskritai， tai šita knyga turėtų šešias。 Tai ko gero išsamiausias， didžiausias ir （galimai） objektyviausias skaitinys apie žmogaus elgseną įtakojančius veiksnius nuo smegenų sandaros， DNR， aplinkos， įpročių ir t。t。 Negaliu sakyti， kad viską puikiai įsisavinau ar supratau。 Visgi neuromokslas， biologija ar anatomija yra daugiau mano mėgėjiškas pasidomėjimas， o ne sritis kurioj laisvai nardyčiau。 bet ir nepaisant to kaip įdomu skaityti， iš esmės， apie tai， kiek sudėtinga būtybė mes， žmonės esam， bet tuo pačiu ir kiek prognozuojami。 Ir ko gero jei tai būtų vienintelė knyga， su kuria reikėtų praleisti ateinančius kokius 10 metų， turinio ir peno mąstymui joje užtektų apsčiai。 Labai rekomenduoju。 。。。more
Josué Rodríguez
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Easily one of the best Neuroscience/Behavior Books of all time。 I want to re-read it so that I can go through the journey again。
Anjali
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Best book written in the history of literature 。 Life changing 。 Every one should read this 。
Pranay
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Peeling the temporal metaphorical onion of what it means to be and act human。 Outstanding。
Amanda
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This book is a beast， but is well worth the effort。 Sapolsky does an excellent job of presenting neurological， genetic， biological， and sociological explanations for human behaviour in a way that the layperson can understand， while not dumbing it down too much。 Depending on your background， parts of this book can be a struggle。。。hang in there， as the next chapter may well come easy。 Always fascinating and downright spellbinding at times。 Sapolsky has an awesome ability to incorporate hope， humou This book is a beast， but is well worth the effort。 Sapolsky does an excellent job of presenting neurological， genetic， biological， and sociological explanations for human behaviour in a way that the layperson can understand， while not dumbing it down too much。 Depending on your background， parts of this book can be a struggle。。。hang in there， as the next chapter may well come easy。 Always fascinating and downright spellbinding at times。 Sapolsky has an awesome ability to incorporate hope， humour， and even silliness in a book so riddled with tragedy。 I often enjoyed the footnotes as much as the text。 。。。more
Hendrik Strauss
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"You don't have to choose between being scientific and being compassionate"Last sentence of the book and quite a good summary of the overall message other than "It is complicated"， and "most things don't cause anything， they modulate each other"。Apart from the great biology and primatology which for me were the big selling point of this work， Sapolsky in analyzing genoicides and murderers always expresses a hope regarding "somewhat better angels of humanity"。Aswell as a general stance on the eff "You don't have to choose between being scientific and being compassionate"Last sentence of the book and quite a good summary of the overall message other than "It is complicated"， and "most things don't cause anything， they modulate each other"。Apart from the great biology and primatology which for me were the big selling point of this work， Sapolsky in analyzing genoicides and murderers always expresses a hope regarding "somewhat better angels of humanity"。Aswell as a general stance on the efficiency and potential likelihood of cooperation。 Backed by examples like the peace between many independently acting bands of soldiers in WW1。There is a carefull multi angel approach to topics ranging from evolution， neuroscience and anthropology。Topics， like stress in relation to hierachies（perceived and enforced）， childhood trauma and many many more are dealed with。 Always with a reference to the brains potential for plasticity to the better。I wouldn't accuse Sapolsky as being overly optimistic and can certainly say that I do hope， he is correct in his major points。Sapolsky is a political writer， nearly as much as a scientific one，due to my political leanings， it is no big thorn in my site as I appreciate his general compassion toward humanity， eventhough I disagree on finer details like his stance on free will and criminal justice。His position is that of an explanatory erodation over time with more insights into gene-， body-， brain-， enviroment-interactions， eventually shifting the focus from punishment completely（Or nearly so）to rehabilitation。The nearly so more closely， follows my own conception。At some point， weakness in steering the boat， so to speak， might explain， but not excuse sufficiently actions taken out of desire to hurt。As he states on several occasions: "The genes evolved in a way that makes our brain majorly independent from our genes。" In my view， the human ability to transform their own structure has to be biologically substrated and socially enabled。 It is a difficult question， to what extend we are responsible for our own current of change。Context and starting point are unarguably majorly relevant forces in that process。 I won't try to answer the question here and leave relative autonomy as my own preference of thought。 。。。more
Michael
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Very broad overview that can be read or heard by a non-scientiest。 I didn't get all details but found it still insightful。 Very broad overview that can be read or heard by a non-scientiest。 I didn't get all details but found it still insightful。 。。。more
Aleksandar
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A deeply nuanced look into the various sources that influence and modulate our behaviour。 Sapolsky draws on a lot of research without sucumbing to scientism - every conculsion comes with a caveat。 Warning: you might have a different look on free will when you're done。Wouldn't it be nice if these findings would make their way into schools and form the basis of education， which is need of a thorough makeover。 In the meantime， do yourself a favor and read it or listen to the audiobook。 A deeply nuanced look into the various sources that influence and modulate our behaviour。 Sapolsky draws on a lot of research without sucumbing to scientism - every conculsion comes with a caveat。 Warning: you might have a different look on free will when you're done。Wouldn't it be nice if these findings would make their way into schools and form the basis of education， which is need of a thorough makeover。 In the meantime， do yourself a favor and read it or listen to the audiobook。 。。。more
Isabella Souto Maior
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