Quotes About Behavior

We think of lions and wolves as savage because they kill; but they must kill, or starve. Humans kill other animals for sport, to satisfy their curiosity, to beautify their bodies, and to please their palates.

the same time, they tell us to what extent the contemporary theory scene, and especially the French one, of which Bourdieu has a good overview, resembles a bonfire of vanities. They show how deeply the human, the all too human, especially the struggle for prestige and privileged status, influenced the behavior of the class that does theory.

There is a known correlation between denial of one's sexuality and a propensity to self-destructive behaviour.

We also know, of course, that human beings are not perfectly rational calculators. Our behavior and decisions are based on a mixture of calculation, emotions, and internalized norms, with calculation often a minor component of the cocktail.

Mathematical theory tells us that when a dynamical system has two kinds of nonlinear feedback loop with different periods, these two mechanisms are likely to interact nonlinearly and may generate erratic, unpredictable-looking behavior known as mathematical chaos (Gleick 1987).

four Fs" of evolutionary survival: Fleeing, Fighting, Feeding and Fucking. If any one of these instincts malfunctions in a species, the species will eventually become extinct.

Sexual Homicide: Patterns and Motives (1988) by John Douglas

It is estimated that one in every 83 Americans4 and one in 166 Britons5 is a diagnosable psychopath.

While a facilitator, detective magazines or porn on their own do not necessarily make people into serial killers.

Psychopaths also show abnormal balances of chemicals currently linked to depression and compulsive behavior: monoamine oxidase (MAO) and serotonin.

This complex structure, in which people were required to predict the behaviour of others in social situations, is generally regarded as the mechanism by which consciousness evolved. In predicting the behaviour of others, an individual would have acquired a sense of self.

Psychopathy's no disorder in those shoes, eh? Just a survival strategy.

The neurological condition of echopraxia is to autonomy as blindsight is to consciousness.

We appear to be hardwired to punish those who have slighted us, even if—and this is the counterintuitive bit—even if our acts of vengeance hurt us more than those who have trespassed against us.

ALL ANIMALS ARE UNDER STRINGENT SELECTION PRESSURE TO BE AS STUPID AS THEY CAN GET AWAY WITH. —PETE RICHERSON AND ROBERT BOYD

You can be such a reptile sometimes," she said.

People aren't rational. You aren't rational. We're not thinking machines, we're—we're feeling machines that happen to think.

ALL ANIMALS ARE UNDER STRINGENT SELECTION PRESSURE TO BE AS STUPID AS THEY CAN GET AWAY WITH.

hyperbolic discounting, and

Linguists don't use it?" I knew some that did. "We don't." And the others are hacks. "Thing about game theory is, it assumes rational self-interest among the players. And people just aren't rational.

People aren't rational. We're not thinking machines, we're - we're feeling machines that happen to think.

If believing absurd falsehoods increase the odds of getting laid or avoiding predators, your brain will believe those falsehoods with all its metaphorical little heart.

Vos vestros servate, meos mihi linquite mores."

Everyone ought to bear patiently the results of his own conduct.