Importantly, rather than promoting aggression, testosterone promotes whatever is needed to maintain status when challenged. Robert M. Sapolsky More Quotes by Robert M. Sapolsky More Quotes From Robert M. Sapolsky The problem isn't testosterone and aggression; it's how often we reward aggression. And we do: We give medals to masters of the "right" kinds of aggression. We preferentially mate with them. We select them as our leaders. Robert M. Sapolsky rewards leader giving On an incredibly simplistic level, you can think of depression as occurring when your cortex thinks an abstract thought and manages to convince the rest of the brain that this is as real as a physical stressor. Robert M. Sapolsky real brain thinking If a rat is a good model for your emotional life, you're in big trouble. Robert M. Sapolsky emotional rats trouble Genes are rarely about inevitability, especially when it comes to humans, the brain, or behavior. They're about vulnerability, propensities, tendencies. Robert M. Sapolsky genes behavior brain Oxytocin is lauded for how it promotes warmth, generosity, social bonding, cooperation, trust, and compassion. Robert M. Sapolsky oxytocin generosity compassion Brains distinguish between an Us and a Them in a fraction of a second. Subliminal processing of a Them activates the amygdala and insular cortex, brain regions that are all about fear, anxiety, aggression, and disgust. Robert M. Sapolsky subliminal anxiety brain It's great to have a buff frontal cortex to do that harder thing - for example, help a person in need rather buy some useless, shiny gee-gaw. Robert M. Sapolsky useless example needs How much you groom somebody else is more important than who grooms you. Robert M. Sapolsky important Until you appreciate something crucial - It is incredibly easy to manipulate us as to who counts as an Us, who as a Them. Robert M. Sapolsky manipulate appreciate easy Perhaps most excitingly, we are uncovering the brain basis of our behaviors - normal, abnormal and in-between. We are mapping a neurobiology of what makes us us. Robert M. Sapolsky abnormal behavior brain I had never planned to become a savanna baboon when I grew up; instead, I had always assumed I would become a mountain gorilla. Robert M. Sapolsky gorillas mountain grew-up But often, it's easier to resist temptation with distraction, or to be so inculcated in doing the right thing that it's automatic, outside the frontal cortex's portfolio - Then it isn't the harder thing, it's the only thing you can do. Robert M. Sapolsky portfolios distraction temptation Fossey, Fossey, you cranky difficult strong-arming self-destructive misanthrope, mediocre scientist, deceiver of earnest college students, probable cause of more deaths of the gorillas than if you had never set foot in Rwanda, Fossey, you pain-in-the-ass saint, I do not believe in prayers or souls, but I will pray for your soul, I will remember you for all of my days, in gratitude for that moment by the graves when all I felt was the pure, cleansing sadness of returning home and finding nothing but ghosts. Robert M. Sapolsky gratitude strong prayer Get it wrong, and we call it a cult. Get it right, in the right time and the right place, and maybe, for the next few millennia, people won't have to go to work on your birthday. Robert M. Sapolsky cult next people We’ve evolved to be smart enough to make ourselves sick. Robert M. Sapolsky smart sick enough We're getting along so well; I trust you so much for this one second that I'm going to let you yank on me. Robert M. Sapolsky getting-along i-trust-you wells We are just another primate but a very confused, malleable one. Robert M. Sapolsky primates confused Genes are important for understanding our behavior. Incredibly important - after all, they code for every protein pertinent to brain function, endocrinology, etc. Robert M. Sapolsky understanding important brain Pulling a gun's trigger can be an appalling act. But if it is suicidal drawing fire to save someone, it has an utterly different meaning. Placing your hand on someone's arm can be an act of deep compassion or the first step of betrayal. The punch line? It's all about context, and the biology of context is vastly more complicated than the biology of the behavior itself. Robert M. Sapolsky suicidal betrayal gun Only humans invent moralizing gods who monitor our behavior. Robert M. Sapolsky moralizing behavior humans
