Pagina principaleGruppiConversazioniAltroStatistiche
Cerca nel Sito
Questo sito utilizza i cookies per fornire i nostri servizi, per migliorare le prestazioni, per analisi, e (per gli utenti che accedono senza fare login) per la pubblicità. Usando LibraryThing confermi di aver letto e capito le nostre condizioni di servizio e la politica sulla privacy. Il tuo uso del sito e dei servizi è soggetto a tali politiche e condizioni.

Risultati da Google Ricerca Libri

Fai clic su di un'immagine per andare a Google Ricerca Libri.

Sto caricando le informazioni...

Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst (2017)

di Robert M. Sapolsky

Altri autori: Vedi la sezione altri autori.

UtentiRecensioniPopolaritàMedia votiCitazioni
1,6952510,278 (4.22)23
"Why do we do the things we do? Over a decade in the making, this game-changing book is Robert Sapolsky's genre-shattering attempt to answer that question as fully as perhaps only he could, looking at it from every angle. Sapolsky's storytelling concept is delightful but it also has a powerful intrinsic logic: he starts by looking at the factors that bear on a person's reaction in the precise moment a behavior occurs, and then hops back in time from there, in stages, ultimately ending up at the deep history of our species and its evolutionary legacy. And so the first category of explanation is the neurobiological one. A behavior occurs--whether an example of humans at our best, worst, or somewhere in between. What went on in a person's brain a second before the behavior happened? Then Sapolsky pulls out to a slightly larger field of vision, a little earlier in time: What sight, sound, or smell caused the nervous system to produce that behavior? And then, what hormones acted hours to days earlier to change how responsive that individual is to the stimuli that triggered the nervous system? By now he has increased our field of vision so that we are thinking about neurobiology and the sensory world of our environment and endocrinology in trying to explain what happened. Sapolsky keeps going: How was that behavior influenced by structural changes in the nervous system over the preceding months, by that person's adolescence, childhood, fetal life, and then back to his or her genetic makeup? Finally, he expands the view to encompass factors larger than one individual. How did culture shape that individual's group, what ecological factors millennia old formed that culture? And on and on, back to evolutionary factors millions of years old. The result is one of the most dazzling tours d'horizon of the science of human behavior ever attempted, a majestic synthesis that harvests cutting-edge research across a range of disciplines to provide a subtle and nuanced perspective on why we ultimately do the things we do ... for good and for ill. Sapolsky builds on this understanding to wrestle with some of our deepest and thorniest questions relating to tribalism and xenophobia, hierarchy and competition, morality and free will, and war and peace. Wise, humane, often very funny, Behave is a towering achievement, powerfully humanizing, and downright heroic in its own right"--… (altro)
Sto caricando le informazioni...

Iscriviti per consentire a LibraryThing di scoprire se ti piacerà questo libro.

Attualmente non vi sono conversazioni su questo libro.

» Vedi le 23 citazioni

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 ( )
  cspiwak | Mar 6, 2024 |
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. ( )
  Bloum | Feb 23, 2024 |
I got lost in the neuroscience but understand the genes versus the environment debate and am all the more puzzled about free will. ( )
  BookListener | Feb 21, 2024 |
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. ( )
  MylesKesten | Jan 23, 2024 |
What makes us act the way we do? Well, it’s complicated.

Exceptional in range and detail, Robert Sapolsky takes readers through a cross-disciplinary scientific study of human behavior. He explains how culture, context and learning shape how our genes, neurons and hormones are expressed and why free will is a lie that we tell ourselves.

I listened to the audiobook but plan on purchasing a copy for my Kindle so I can make highlights and notes. There is so much great information, there’s no way to retain it without taking notes or reading it a few times. Fantastic listen. Cannot wait to read again. ( )
  thezenofbrutality | Jul 5, 2023 |
What happens in brains and bodies at the moment humans engage in violence with other humans? That is the subject of Stanford University neurobiologist and primatologist Robert M. Sapolsky’s Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst. The book is Sapolsky’s magnum opus, not just in length, scope (nearly every aspect of the human condition is considered), and depth (thousands of references document decades of research by Sapolsky and many others) but also in importance as the acclaimed scientist integrates numerous disciplines to explain both our inner demons and our better angels.
 

» Aggiungi altri autori

Nome dell'autoreRuoloTipo di autoreOpera?Stato
Robert M. Sapolskyautore primariotutte le edizionicalcolato
Goldstrom, MichaelNarratoreautore secondarioalcune edizioniconfermato
Devi effettuare l'accesso per contribuire alle Informazioni generali.
Per maggiori spiegazioni, vedi la pagina di aiuto delle informazioni generali.
Titolo canonico
Titolo originale
Titoli alternativi
Data della prima edizione
Personaggi
Luoghi significativi
Eventi significativi
Film correlati
Epigrafe
Dedica
Dati dalle informazioni generali inglesi. Modifica per tradurlo nella tua lingua.
To Mel Konner, who taught me.
To John Newton, who inspired me
To Lisa, who saved me.
Incipit
Dati dalle informazioni generali inglesi. Modifica per tradurlo nella tua lingua.
The fantasy always runs like this: A team of us has fought our way into his secret bunker.
Citazioni
Ultime parole
Dati dalle informazioni generali inglesi. Modifica per tradurlo nella tua lingua.
(Click per vedere. Attenzione: può contenere anticipazioni.)
Nota di disambiguazione
Redattore editoriale
Dati dalle informazioni generali inglesi. Modifica per tradurlo nella tua lingua.
Elogi
Dati dalle informazioni generali inglesi. Modifica per tradurlo nella tua lingua.
Lingua originale
DDC/MDS Canonico
LCC canonico

Risorse esterne che parlano di questo libro

Wikipedia in inglese

Nessuno

"Why do we do the things we do? Over a decade in the making, this game-changing book is Robert Sapolsky's genre-shattering attempt to answer that question as fully as perhaps only he could, looking at it from every angle. Sapolsky's storytelling concept is delightful but it also has a powerful intrinsic logic: he starts by looking at the factors that bear on a person's reaction in the precise moment a behavior occurs, and then hops back in time from there, in stages, ultimately ending up at the deep history of our species and its evolutionary legacy. And so the first category of explanation is the neurobiological one. A behavior occurs--whether an example of humans at our best, worst, or somewhere in between. What went on in a person's brain a second before the behavior happened? Then Sapolsky pulls out to a slightly larger field of vision, a little earlier in time: What sight, sound, or smell caused the nervous system to produce that behavior? And then, what hormones acted hours to days earlier to change how responsive that individual is to the stimuli that triggered the nervous system? By now he has increased our field of vision so that we are thinking about neurobiology and the sensory world of our environment and endocrinology in trying to explain what happened. Sapolsky keeps going: How was that behavior influenced by structural changes in the nervous system over the preceding months, by that person's adolescence, childhood, fetal life, and then back to his or her genetic makeup? Finally, he expands the view to encompass factors larger than one individual. How did culture shape that individual's group, what ecological factors millennia old formed that culture? And on and on, back to evolutionary factors millions of years old. The result is one of the most dazzling tours d'horizon of the science of human behavior ever attempted, a majestic synthesis that harvests cutting-edge research across a range of disciplines to provide a subtle and nuanced perspective on why we ultimately do the things we do ... for good and for ill. Sapolsky builds on this understanding to wrestle with some of our deepest and thorniest questions relating to tribalism and xenophobia, hierarchy and competition, morality and free will, and war and peace. Wise, humane, often very funny, Behave is a towering achievement, powerfully humanizing, and downright heroic in its own right"--

Non sono state trovate descrizioni di biblioteche

Descrizione del libro
Riassunto haiku

Discussioni correnti

Nessuno

Copertine popolari

Link rapidi

Voto

Media: (4.22)
0.5
1 1
1.5 1
2 6
2.5 1
3 16
3.5 7
4 50
4.5 6
5 71

Sei tu?

Diventa un autore di LibraryThing.

 

A proposito di | Contatto | LibraryThing.com | Privacy/Condizioni d'uso | Guida/FAQ | Blog | Negozio | APIs | TinyCat | Biblioteche di personaggi celebri | Recensori in anteprima | Informazioni generali | 204,711,585 libri! | Barra superiore: Sempre visibile