Behave
by Robert M. Sapolsky
A tour of why humans do what they do, from the second before an act (neurons) back through hormones, childhood, genes, culture and evolution, ending with free will, war and peace. It is eight hundred pages, demanding and generous, and it changes how you judge yourself and others. Not a self-help book; a foundation for understanding behavior.
Read it if…
you want the deepest available account of why people behave as they do.
Skip it if…
you want applied advice; this is science, magnificently done.
Three things you will actually use
- Behavior has many causes at many timescales; be slow to judge.
- Context changes the same biology into cruelty or kindness.
- Us-versus-them is fast and automatic; counter it deliberately.
Do this first
Read the chapter on adolescence if you have a teenager; it explains everything.
Our verdict
Monumental and humane.
Compare with other Mindset books
The Great Mental Models
Shane Parrish and Rhiannon Beaubien · Mindset
Well-made starter set.
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