Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst

Why do we do what we do?

Behave achieves what no other book has previously attempted: it brings together a whole host of sciences – the study of our brains, genes and hormones, the investigations of psychology, anthropology and evolutionary history – and by gathering them together offers the richest and most accurate understanding yet of the causes of human behaviour. It shows that any explanation of why we behave the way we do is incomplete until we consider all of these factors together; when combined, the insights that emerge are unprecedented and astonishing.

Robert Sapolsky’s ingenious method is to move backwards in time from the moment at which a behaviour occurs, layer by layer through the myriad influences that led to it. He begins with the split-second reactions of the brain and nervous system, and considers their response to sight, sound and smell in the minutes and seconds beforehand. Next he explains the interactions of hormones, which prime our behaviour in the preceding hours and days. He proceeds through the experiences of adolescence, childhood and foetal development that shape us over our lifespans, and continues over centuries and millennia through the profound influences of genetic inheritance, cultural context and ultimately the evolutionary origins of our species. Throughout, Sapolsky considers the most important question: what causes acts of aggression or compassion? What inspires us to terrible deeds and what might help foster our best behaviour?

Brought to life through simple language, engaging stories and irreverent wit, Behave is at once a dazzling tour and a majestic synthesis of the whole science of human behaviour, revealing the fullest picture yet of the origins of tribalism and xenophobia, hierarchy and competition, morality and free will, war and peace. Wise, humane, often very funny, Behave is a towering achievement, powerfully humanizing, that is unlikely to be surpassed for many years.