Quotessence
Home / Books / Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst

Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst

Book by Robert M. Sapolsky · 3 quotes · Evolution, Psychology, Evolutionary Psychology

Filter quotes by topic

AllEvolutionPsychologyEvolutionary PsychologyGenesMoralityMindStressBehaviorBiologyBrainCognitionDopamineInequalityLifeMaleRewardScienceTestosteroneAggressionAgriculture

Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst Quotes

“…we use the dopaminergic power of the happiness of pursuit to motivate us to work for rewards that come -after we are dead- depending on your culture, this can be knowing that your nation is closer to winning a war because you’ve sacrificed yourself in battle, that your kids will inherit money because of your financial sacrifices, or that you will spend eternity in paradise. It is extraordinary neural circuitry that bucks temporal discounting enough to allow (some of) us to care about the temperature of the planet that our great-grandchildren will inherit. Basically, it’s unknown how we humans do this. We may merely be a type of animal, mammal, primate, and ape, but we’re a profoundly unique one.”

LifeMindHappinessDeathSexBrainGoalsPursuitRewardDopamine
Book:Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst
Create image

“Testosterone makes us more willing to do what it takes to attain and maintain status. And the key point is what it takes. Engineer social circumstances right, and boosting testosterone levels during a challenge would make people compete like crazy to do the most acts of random kindness. In our world riddled with male violence, the problem isn't that testosterone can increase levels of aggression. The problem is the frequency with which we reward aggression.”

ViolenceAggressionMaleRewardTestosterone
Book:Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst
Create image