The Biology of Good and Evil: How Science Explains Our Actions +

As the famous primatologist and neurobiologist Robert Sapolsky says, if you want to understand human behavior and the nature of a good or bad deed, you will have to understand literally everything - both what happened a second before it, and what happened millions of years ago. In the book, the author step by step - one might say, in chronological order - and in great detail examines a huge number of factors that influence our behavior. How does our brain work? What is the amygdala responsible for, and what should we thank the frontal cortex for? What does the insula "hate"? Why do London taxi drivers have an enlarged hippocampus? What is the connection between the lengths of the index and ring fingers and the amount of prenatal testosterone? How do teenagers differ from children and adults from a neurobiological point of view? Are there "pure" altruists? What is the difference between forgiveness and reconciliation? Does free will exist? How do complex social connections influence our behavior and decision-making? And this is only a small part of the issues considered in the large-scale work of the famous scientist.