Behave

Subtitle: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst

Author: Robert M. Sapolsky

Genre: Non-fiction, Science, Primatology, Neuroscience

Format: Digital via Kindle Purchase

Publish Date: May 2017

Read: May/June 2023

Favorite Quote: Nothing comes from nothing. No brain is an island.

Synopsis: Robert Sapolsky takes readers on an immersive journey into the field of neuroscience. Covering everything from axons and dendrites to why people feel fear, anxiety, and act aggressively, Sapolsky attempts to explain human behavior through the lens of neurobiology and primatology. Starting at the most micro of levels, Behave dives into the triggers that light up neuropathways in the brain, causing action. With each chapter, Behave moves to a slightly more macro level until you begin learning about (what I call) generational evolution - the events of millennia ago that led to our brains working as they do today.

The book's second half explores how humans have behaved by exploring things we’re willing to die for (country, belief, etc.), empathy and stress, war and peace, and group dynamics. Continuing to build on itself, Behave is the best scientific book on human behavior I’ve read.

Why does this book beguile? Behave is a fascinating book for fans of science and human behavior. Tons of pop psychology books gloss over how and why we behave as we do and offer solutions for fixing or dealing with it. That’s not a bad thing because plenty of us want those solutions. What I loved about Sapolsky’s Behave is how technical the book is regarding the how and why. There are no solutions or fast fixes for behavior. Behave is a non-prescriptive, non-judgemental look at human behavior, so you have the context to better understand human behavior's complexity.

Rating: 5/5

Link*: Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst by Robert M. Sapolsky - Amazon

Like this? Try: Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari (Amazon)