Quotes About Behavior

Scientists studying the inner workings of the human organism have found no soul there. They increasingly argue that human behaviour is determined by hormones, genes and synapses, rather than by free will – the same forces that determine the behaviour of chimpanzees, wolves, and ants.

even rational leaders frequently end up doing very stupid things.

Unfortunately, what was good for survival and reproduction in the African savannah a million years ago does not necessarily make for responsible behaviour on twenty-first-century motorways

A cultura tende a argumentar que proíbe apenas o que não é natural. Mas, de uma perspectiva biológica, não existe nada que não seja natural. Tudo o que é possível é, por definição, também natural. Um comportamento verdadeiramente não natural, que vá contra as leis da natureza, simplesmente não teria como existir e, portanto, não necessitaria de proibição.

La cultura tiende a aducir que solo prohíbe lo que es antinatural. Pero, desde una perspectiva biológica, nada es antinatural. Todo lo que es posible es, por definición, también natural. Un comportamiento verdaderamente antinatural, que vaya contra las leyes de la naturaleza, simplemente no puede existir, de modo que no necesitaría prohibición.

replication of cultural information units called 'memes'.

This network of artificial instincts is called 'culture'.

Sociological research has shown that the maximum 'natural' size of a group bonded by gossip is about 150 individuals.

secular world judges people on the basis of their behavior rather than their favorite clothes and ceremonies.

The process of taming almost always involves the castration of males. This restrains male aggression and enables humans selectively to control the herd's procreation.

green monkey, for example, has been observed calling 'Careful! A lion!' when there was no lion around. This alarm conveniently frightened away a fellow monkey who had just found a banana, leaving the liar all alone to steal the prize for itself.

Without an ability to compose fiction, Neanderthals were unable to cooperate effectively in large numbers, nor could they adapt their social behaviour to rapidly changing challenges.

In a one-on-one brawl, a Neanderthal would probably have beaten a Sapiens. But in a conflict of hundreds, Neanderthals wouldn't stand a chance. Neanderthals could share information about the whereabouts of lions, but they probably could not tell – and revise – stories about tribal spirits. Without an ability to compose fiction, Neanderthals were unable to cooperate effectively in large numbers, nor could they adapt their social behaviour to rapidly changing challenges.

Buying cars and writing novels do not change our biochemistry.

In the end he came to the realization that suffering is not caused by ill fortune, by social injustice, or by divine whims. Rather, suffering is caused by the behaviour patterns of one's own mind

The better we understand the biochemical mechanisms that underpin human emotions, desires, and choices, the better computers can become in analyzing human behavior, predicting human decisions, and replacing human drivers, bankers, and lawyers

It turns out that our choices of everything from food to mates result not from some mysterious free will but rather from billions of neurons calculating probabilities within a split second.

It's okay to be eccentric if you're rich; otherwise you're just crazy.

I don't really believe that humans are evil; it is just that we are not very intelligent animals. No animal is so stupid as to foul its only nest, except humans.

Chickens are annoying. Is that why people eat them? My sister is annoying, but nobody eats her.

Behave like a homeless person, Just don't act like it.

Sometimes I think that Darwin made a mistake and that in fact man is descended from the pig, because eight out of every ten members of the human race are swine, and as crooked as a hog's tail.

elders serve as conduits between the divine realm and the mundane world, making the abstract truths of spirituality accessible to the community by embodying them in their everyday behavior.

Men and women are totally different. Women check men out, too ... but we do it with style.