Behave Review
Behave by Robert Sapolsky is a layered explanation of why humans do what they do, from milliseconds before action to millennia of evolution. It integrates neurobiology, hormones, development, psychology, culture, and ecology into a single causal stack.
Overview
Chapters descend from immediate neural circuits and neurotransmitters to hormones and stress physiology, childhood and adolescence, social psychology, cultural norms, and evolutionary pressures. Each level adds constraints and context.
Summary
Behavior is not one cause but many: spikes and synapses shaped by hormones, which are shaped by development and prior experience, which are embedded in hierarchies, scarcity, and culture. Sapolsky debunks just-so stories, emphasizing effect sizes, variability, and experimental limits.
Authors
Robert Sapolsky writes as a neuroscientist and primatologist with a gift for synthesis and humor. Footnotes make methods and caveats explicit.
Key Themes
Multi-level causation; plasticity and context; stress and inequality; empathy and aggression as situational, not essences.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths: panoramic scope, careful skepticism, and humane tone. Weaknesses: length and density; some fast-evolving neuroscience will date.
Target Audience
Readers of neuroscience, psychology, and social science who want mechanism without simplism; leaders designing policy or institutions.
Favorite Ideas
Time-scale lens for causation; context flipping classic social psych results; stress physiology as policy concern.
Takeaways
Explain behavior by stacking causes across time scales. Design interventions at multiple levels: biology, development, social context, and culture.
