Individual differences in testosterone level predict very little about differences in aggression. Robert M. Sapolsky More Quotes by Robert M. Sapolsky More Quotes From Robert M. Sapolsky Only humans invent moralizing gods who monitor our behavior. Robert M. Sapolsky moralizingbehaviorhumans It's probably even the case that if you stoked up some Buddhist monks with tons of testosterone, they'd become wildly competitive as to who can do the most acts of random kindness. Robert M. Sapolsky buddhistmonkkindness As long as experiencing your optimal level of good stress doesn't damage others, it's hard to objectively define where normal enjoyment of stimulation becomes adrenaline junkiehood. Robert M. Sapolsky levelsstresslong Hormones influencing the sensitivity of the person to environmental stimuli. Robert M. Sapolsky hormonesenvironmentalinfluence What happened during the minutes before? That's the realm of sensory stimuli of the nervous system. Robert M. Sapolsky stimulusnervousminutes The frontal cortex is an incredibly interesting part of the brain - ours is proportionately bigger and/or more complex than in any other species. Robert M. Sapolsky biggerbraininteresting The fascinating thing about our best and worst behaviors isn't the behavior itself - the brain tells the muscles to do something or other - big deal. It's the meaning of the behavior. Robert M. Sapolsky bigsbehaviorbrain Naturally, things are more complicated - those groovy, pro-social effects of oxytocin apply to how we interact with in-group members. Robert M. Sapolsky oxytocingroupscomplicated Give lab rats oxytocin and, according to that meme, they get better at talking about their feelings and sing like Joan Baez. Robert M. Sapolsky oxytocintalkinggiving The gigantic challenge is the magnitude of the individual differences in the optimal set point for "good stress." For one person, it's doing something risky with your bishop in a chess game; for someone else, it's becoming a mercenary in Yemen. Robert M. Sapolsky individual-differencesstressgames ...when doing science (or perhaps when doing anything at all in a society as judgmental as our own), be very careful and very certain before pronouncing something to be a norm - because at that instant, you have made it supremely difficult to ever again look objectively at an exception to that supposed norm. Robert M. Sapolsky judgmentalmadelooks Finish this lecture, go outside, and unexpectedly get gored by an elephant, and you are going to secrete glucocorticoids. There's no way out of it. You cannot psychologically reframe your experience and decide you did not like the shirt, here's an excuse to throw it out - that sort of thing. Robert M. Sapolsky lectureselephantsway Digestion is quickly shut down during stress…The parasympathetic nervous system, perfect for all that calm, vegetative physiology, normally mediates the actions of digestion. Along comes stress: turn off parasympathetic, turn on the sympathetic, and forget about digestion. Robert M. Sapolsky digestionstressperfect Some Poor grad student pressing on the flanks of a hamster and out comes a doctorate on the other side Robert M. Sapolsky poorstudentssides ...I might continue to believe that there is no god even if it were proved that there is. A religious friend of mine once remarked that the concept of god is useful, because you can berate god during the bad times. But it is clear to me that I don't need to believe there is a god in order to berate him. Robert M. Sapolsky religiousorderbelieve Depression is not generalized pessimism, but pessimism specific to the effects of one's own skilled action. Robert M. Sapolsky pessimismeffectsaction Most of us don't collapse into puddles of stress-related disease. Robert M. Sapolsky puddlesstressdisease Oxytocin is a Teflon hormone - bad news rolls off it. Robert M. Sapolsky teflonoxytocinnews There's the complex categorization of low warmth/high competence. This is the hostile stereotype of Asian Americans by white America, of Jews in Europe, of Indo-Pakistanis in East Africa, of Lebanese in West Africa, of ethnic Chinese in Indonesia, and of the rich by the poor most everywhere. It's the same low-high derogation: They're cold, greedy, clannish - -but, dang, they're sure good at making money and you should go to one who is a doctor if you're seriously sick. Robert M. Sapolsky doctorswhiteeurope The most important point of [Susan] Fiske's work is that it provides a taxonomy for our differing feelings about different Thems - sometimes fear, sometimes ridicule, sometimes contemptuous pity, sometimes savagery. Robert M. Sapolsky taxonomyimportantfeelings
