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A review by ethanjarrell
Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst by Robert M. Sapolsky
4.0
I'm about 1/3 of the way into this book. I really like it, but it is written at a pretty technical level. A lot of it goes over my head if I don't have time to really pay attention closely to what I'm reading, and my ability to retain much information is probably low, since it's been years since I've taken any biology, and don't have a good frame of reference for much of the material. That being said, the content of the book is easy to follow, it's well researched, and interesting throughout.
I read this book after reading "The righteous mind", "The widsom of psychopaths" and a couple of other psychology based books. This made me appreciate the psychological sections of this book more, and gave me a little more foundation in those areas.
If I had one recommendation to any readers, it would be either to read the appendixes of this book first to get a foundation of the material. Or take a quick refresher in human biology before starting this book so that you can appreciate it more fully.
After the first 5 or 6 chapters, the author gets into the evolution of behavior and becomes less bogged down in the details of the biology of the human body, neurons and hormones. For me, the book moved at a faster pace at this point, and was easier to follow, and slightly more enjoyable than the first half.
I thoroughly enjoyed the last half of the book. Especially the final 2 or 3 chapters, which were a combination of emotional, gut wrenching and optimistically hopeful. I would highly recommend this book to anyone. The author is also well read, and referenced almost all of my favorite books. I went back and wrote down all the books he referenced that I hadn't read to add to my reading list.
I read this book after reading "The righteous mind", "The widsom of psychopaths" and a couple of other psychology based books. This made me appreciate the psychological sections of this book more, and gave me a little more foundation in those areas.
If I had one recommendation to any readers, it would be either to read the appendixes of this book first to get a foundation of the material. Or take a quick refresher in human biology before starting this book so that you can appreciate it more fully.
After the first 5 or 6 chapters, the author gets into the evolution of behavior and becomes less bogged down in the details of the biology of the human body, neurons and hormones. For me, the book moved at a faster pace at this point, and was easier to follow, and slightly more enjoyable than the first half.
I thoroughly enjoyed the last half of the book. Especially the final 2 or 3 chapters, which were a combination of emotional, gut wrenching and optimistically hopeful. I would highly recommend this book to anyone. The author is also well read, and referenced almost all of my favorite books. I went back and wrote down all the books he referenced that I hadn't read to add to my reading list.