Behave – Robert Sapolsky

For broad and deep knowledge of our humankind, a grounding in biological and evolutionary science has always seemed to me to be indispensable, and I have learned much from reading Richard Dawkins, Steve Jones, Jared Diamond, Matt Ridley et al. 
 
After hearing Robert Sapolsky talk about his long-term study of baboons and expound his findings in neurobiology in entertainingly accessible videos, I was keen to read his books, also. And, yes, there is plenty to learn in “Behave”, but be warned: this is more textbook than popular science paperback. You need a proper foundation in neuroscience to navigate it comfortably.
 
I once read Dawkins’ “The Extended Phenotype” and realized that I’d reached my limit for hard science. In “Behave”, I ended up fishing out the points and arguments that appealed to my interest and skipping the rest.
 
In particular, the functioning of the limbic system in that inescapable emotional madhouse called adolescence, and the development of the prefrontal cortex until age 25, by which time the brain works in greater balance. I also wanted to read the science behind the counterintuitive finding that conscious resolutions are already determined in a subconscious part of the brain and only subsequently reach consciousness, at which point we believe we are in charge and “make the decision”.
 
Anyway, by listening and learning with Sapolsky and also Sam Harris in their fascinating talks, I have come to entertain the amusingly humbling possibility that we have no free will. So that if I, with my atrophied cortex, decline to struggle through the tough science anymore, that was always the way is was going to be.