16. Human Sexual Behavior II

(May 7, 2010) Robert Sapolsky delivers the second part of his two-part lecture on sexual behavior. He discusses how this behavior has evolved into the intricate and complex system that exists today.
Stanford University:
www.stanford.edu/
Stanford Department of Biology:
biology.stanford.edu/
Stanford University Channel on KZbin:
/ stanford

[@allynated]

People are so lucky to have had irl lectures with Dr Sapolsky. All of us virtual learners are as equally lucky! Thanks Stanford for putting these up online.

[@ryankenyon5010]

I could listen to him read cereal boxes and be fascinated.

[@freddysalinas3023]

😂😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@rahulray5411]

Whoaaa

[@peacha1978]

For real

[@josiesiman9847]

Sure thing.

[@teeonezee]

im sure you love watching paint dry as volunteer work... i unno why it @'d who it did

[@spombg]

I love how Dr Sapolsky teaches everything with nuance. For any topic, he suggests x leads to y except with z. A good way to keep his students from seeing the world in black and white and instead a colorfully complex system

[@damon6852]

If I were to attend Stanford, I would take EVERY course instructed by Dr. Sapolsky. He creates such an interest in what he is about to say, where you gladly join him in his journey through his lecture.

[@stevenhageman8255]

And he has such an amazing way of breaking down his topics in very palatable terms that translate perfectly in layman terms- which shows he has true mastery of the knowledge he possesses.

[@stevenhageman8255]

@Maria Callous this is his bio 150 class. This is an introductory course that is supposed to be a medley of scientific courses, so that students can get an idea of what the upper level curriculum will look like.

[@douggale5962]

I love how the professor has these really humble moments where he made a little mistake or something, then goes back to being someone who knows more about psychology than I can even imagine.

[@psychedandelevated2854]

This isn’t psychology tho

[@elinannestad5320]

@@psychedandelevated2854 why not? There is not any pencil line between chemicals and resulting mental states and behaviour. He is teaching boichem/genetics and pyschology/sociology at the same time. As they are in our lives.

[@elinannestad5320]

the only mistake I recall him making was calling men and women 'the 2 species', Freudian slip, funny and telling.

[@4gegtyreeyuyeddffvyt]

All whites are racist!!!!

[@someonethirsty1957]

It seems like psychology is really important to you guys.

[@WatermelonCarver]

Robert "If you were a hamster and you were smelling your sister" Sapolsky

[@Alex1891]

A few nights ago, I fell asleep with one of his lectures playing. I entered a dream in which I heard his voice as it played over the KZbin video, and I saw myself physically in his class and I was understanding things.

[@teenanguyen623]

Lmao!!!

[@Correctrix]

10:26 Missed a golden opportunity to stroke his chin and say, "I shaved yesterday".

[@dukuncepi7559]

Correctrix

[@ao9297]

You live a miserable existence.

[@rohmann000]

@@ao9297 that escalated quickly

[@paulgilraine3127]

I shaved 2 minutes ago , my head as well 🤔

[@Unknownmagicmandoubleoseven]

He probably thought about it for a sec lololol

[@qadr_]

I had a certain understanding of evolution that I carried along for a long time and I used to always argue with and the picture was of a uniform linear model. advantageous traits simply would keep evolving rapidly through the selection of more magnified and amplified version of genes replacing the weaker ones. but the realm of social evolutionary biology is much much more complex than that. I wish I can have the honor of thanking doctor sapolsky personally as this course was one of most enjoyable experiences I had on youtube, and it truly changed the way that I view the world. Thank you doctor sapolsky. Abdulkader from syria

[@coreycox2345]

I am enjoying this excellent course too. Corey from Canada.

[@alexandrasavior527]

Oh my, completely relatable! I can't even sleep right because i always think of his lectures. This course completely changed the way i am. I swear to god, when i graduate senior high(I'm a HUMMS student BTdubs), I'm going to take Biology.

[@Ghryst]

this video is so fucking out of date its not funny.. have a look at the most recent mummy DNA findings and yr about to realise its even less like you thought it was.. its looking more and more apparent now that the various prehistoric hominid species were in fact NOT various stages of evolution, but in fact separate, co-existing and interbreeding species, and that the various levels of interbreeding between these species are what resulted in the marked differences between the races. so instead of being a linear progression, its looking more and more like a shuffled deck.. less like a game of monopoly, and more like a game of snakes and ladders

[@grahamcroxford6971]

Sapolski

[@Ghryst]

thank you grayham for demonstrating your stupidity by assuming a correction needed to be made where everyone else already knew what was meant.

[@intercat4907]

Response to 51:26 There was a young lady from Asia With adrenal-based strong hyperplasia. They soon realized She was androgenized, Which her mom thought was only a phase. Yeah. Darn I'm proud of this, and no one may ever read it.

[@rockstarkilller]

I read it and loved it! You should be proud

[@StormCentre88]

Coming from someone that spent more than 10 years at various secondary and university educational institutions (studying completely different fields) . . . This guy is a brilliant lecturer.

[@declanallan885]

I Can relate, this guy trumps most of the teaching staff i have came across in my university experience (which has also pushed the 10 year mark of uni xD)

[@emmapelham2847]

What a delivery. No nonsense and well paced but with sprinkled with occasional humour. Commands attention so well that it's difficult even to pause it momentarily. Brilliant.

[@geraldmerkowitz4360]

This lecture is mindbending, the amount of things we're told our whole lives about sexuality that's utter bullshit is staggering Big up for Stanford to help us be less stupid and hour an a half at a time

[@philcollinslover56705]

hear hear 🍻

[@jlllx]

most things we hear are bs.

[@osyris9281]

i am addicted to science and this professor like my best friend, these type of people i love to hangout around and learn , for me he is the best Doctor and i kinda teach and explain for people the same way he uses

[@stevengorlich4993]

This series of lectures is just breathtaking. The clear structure, the recent information, so easy to follow, that I'm unable to stop watching. 57:00 onwards is hilarious. "Made the people jump off buildings".... "Half the people quit and went to business school" - nice to see that other fields also aren't considering economics as real science xD

[@revelations2044]

"57:00 onwards is hilarious. "Made the people jump off buildings".... "Half the people quit and went to business school" - nice to see that other fields also aren't considering economics as real science xD" Kind of a leap you took there, huh?

[@siryknott27]

@51:17 .... challenge accepted. There once was a hirsute young geisha, Whose beard was renowned across Asia, She replied to the query As to why she was hairy: Congenital adrenal hyperplasia.

[@jonathonhorsman180]

mycroft crisp if I could upvote this more I would

[@ambrosialmelange]

Too good...

[@rohmann000]

This

[@VyvienneEaux]

*Proceptivity activated*

[@barbeshoes3715]

@@VyvienneEaux hahaha lmao ikr

[@jakethemistakeRulez]

As someone who is far more interested in mathematics and physics I'm surprised how interesting I'm finding this.

[@kassywilson7292]

I watch these lectures as background noise to my projects, and still get caught up in his engaging presentation and interesting materials on umpteenth watch.

[@SilverstoneTrace]

Listening to him makes me so happy...

[@PODMTHC]

Would you let him inseminate you?

[@NathanDudani]

@@PODMTHC wtf

[@SilverstoneTrace]

@@PODMTHC Naw. A bit short but I’d love my kids to have his intelligence.

[@PODMTHC]

@@SilverstoneTrace what if he’s well equipped beneath the waist line?

[@natas3301]

While me regreting souls of hoomnas

[@Tanoro]

Robert Sapolsky is great! :) I'd love to sit in for one of his lectures. It'd be like a rock concert for smart people. xD

[@BusinessWolf1]

so it would be exactly like a rock concert

[@claramaral17]

very well put

[@newt702]

Hahah I love this comment

[@MrSidney9]

This is so good! He presents the research literature on humans and animal sexual behavior in such an instructive, yet fun and funny way.

[@patriciaheil6811]

Yes, I googled it. (on the farm), Mrs. Coolidge was taken to a large enclosure with a henhouse, filled to capacity with hens and little chicks, but she could see only one rooster. When she remarked about it, the farmer boasted of his “prize” rooster - one able to “service” the entire lot. She queried, “Just how many times a day does this prize rooster ‘copulate’?” When told that rooster could mate perhaps 35-40 times a day, Mrs. Coolidge twinkled to her host, “You must be sure to tell that to President Coolidge when he passes this way.” Sure enough a half hour later, the President and his escorts passed that same henhouse, and was given Mrs. Coolidge’s “message.” Coolidge nodded, and was his usual silent self, until they were about to leave the area. “Hmmmm. Thirty or forty times a day,” he twanged. “Same hen?” “Oh no,” said the farmer, “he services them all.” Coolidge didn’t miss a beat. “You be sure to tell that to Mrs. Coolidge,” he added. (From Presidential History Blog)

[@mrniceguy7168]

Patricia Heil hah, the professor was off here, that was a very witty reply by Coolidge

[@stvbrsn]

Patricia Heil so many of these kind of stories turn out to be apocryphal. But, whether it actually happened or not, it is awesome.

[@thaisusan5911]

Human evolution

[@SnapCracklePapa]

Please don't become a stand up comedian. That joke could have been told in three short sentences.

[@LaurenThompsonIsMyRealName]

@@SnapCracklePapa I wonder why you felt the need to criticize when it was not necessary.

[@belial3575]

Soo mind blowing, and the way he connects the aspects with his amplified view shows his dedication, an amazing experience to hear all these magnificent studies. I have so much appreciation for his job, gives clarity in such complex realms as it is behavior in the many forms it comes, and has to be explained in a neurological way to be trully understood. Must thank Standford for giving such magnific material to the KZbin community. Greets from Colombia.

[@abbysorenson6685]

I'm so grateful to whoever makes these available. Im uber grateful to Prof. Sapolsky. Thanks very much!

[@traviscroy4268]

I really must say I love this mans lecture. It is well delivered and well rounded.

[@daniellawrence9345]

These lectures would make an incredible docu-series

[@VeeryBird]

1:22:59 Sadly he got this fact wrong; chastitybelts weren't actually used, as they were unhygienic. They were satirically depicted; like joking that the husband would have a key and the secret lover would have the spare key.

[@alisyr5128]

Mind blowing stories i heard here.. Thank you Dr Sapolsky

[@stanford]

@JAYDUBYAH29 You can find the full (and ordered) playlist for this course if you click on the "Course | Human Behavioral Biology" playlist link in the Suggestions column.

[@claytonhoward6296]

Stanford may I please have free tuition? I think I can contribute to our species’s advance in knowledge. Let me know when I can’t start. Please and thanks.

[@NathanDudani]

@@claytonhoward6296 mAy I pLeAsE hAvE fReE tUiTiOn

[@anastasiiamoroz3702]

thank you for posting this course

[@anastasiiamoroz3702]

also would like to have free tuition as I see there is a demand for it, so I am next in this line

[@JRush374]

Can you please add his depression and biology of religiosity lectures to the playlist? People are missing out on those wonderful lectures.

[@fftnofx]

The coolest professor ever

[@damon6852]

Dr. Sapolsky is an absolutely perfect looking college professor!!...Oh, and he is an excellent lecturer as well :)

[@Ghryst]

god damn hippy

[@ashleyibrahim3707]

Ghryst VanGhod le

[@user-cp1pm2nv1p]

"You and me baby ain't nothin' but mammals So let's do it like they do it on Discovery channel"

[@misstigerbubbles]

he doesn't include social evolution etc though so it's a pretty one sided view at human behaviour

[@Revert2017]

This guy is so interesting. One video started to autoplay and now I'm on my 5th vid.

[@MrCrimsonBubble]

We need more of this sort of analysis sementically and chemicaly.

[@Polydopamine]

Sexuality in general was not repressed and it was embraced and nurtured. Through their myths, relegion, festivals, art, literature and sports.

[@ddiq47]

The cameraman is a legend at panning

[@curtisvalle5141]

I majored in analytical Chem. a hundred years ago. Obviously, narrow and boring in hindsight. However, In my defense, I did almost flunk out from chasing skirts and associated activities. Neurochem./ bio. is fascinating but this series shows yet again...it is a Godsend to have virtually any subject presented by a passionate, knowledgeable, high energy and funny teacher. with no agenda....

[@MBVXONIDE]

THIS GUY IS BRILLIANT... WHAT A BEAUTIFUL HUMAN BEING. THANK GOD FOR MEN WHO COME ABOUT IN THE WORLD AND BECOME COMPASSIONATE SOULS AT THE LEVEL OF PRIESTS. THANK YOU DR. SASPOLSKY.

[@arthursulit]

+Michael Bvxonide Agree mostly, but his wiki says he's a secular humanist. So he wouldn't thank God like you do, lol

[@robertw2930]

IS that a nice way of calling him a "hippie"

[@MBVXONIDE]

Wtf ever ...nevermind

[@francisguevara1688]

Michael Bvxonide he is an atheist haha but don't worry atheist usually are the most compassionate people

[@coreycox2345]

A priest of science?

[@TheRealDarthCosby]

hey!! film the charts on the board! dont always need a close up on him!! but... either way.. thanks!! appreciate the vids!!

[@noelsnave9395]

Nothing I love more then free knowledge.

[@asda5910]

Best lecturer Ever!

[@dbro1]

Hmm…Stress and fear reduces sexual behavior and activity. This is interesting in the first few years of the ‘20s.

[@katee8147]

So helpful to learn about the world’s biology / thanks so much

[@KanalFrump]

I want to see this guy and Irving Finkel duke it out in some kind of awesome fiery debate with a tantalizing visual of dueling beards. Is there any kind of venn diagram overlap between babylonian history and behavioral biology?

[@davesuiter]

Dr. Sapolsky is the consummate professor.

[@cashmilla]

The correlation between sexual behaviour, aggression and testosterone in males is wildly fascinating to me from a sociological perspective

[@0buri0]

Fun thing to know is that Wellesley effect or, correctly, McClintock effect, has been proven to not exist, so pheromones (or anything else) does not synchronize women menstrual cycles, it is just a coincedence that sometimes they converge. The corresponding systematic review was conducted in 2013, 3 years after this lecture, so Prof. Sapolsky or anyone else in 2010 did not know this.

[@chantel512]

Love these videos. I listen while doing puzzles. I'm always vaguely thinking about whether it's the same person coughing in every one of his videos haha.

[@newt702]

Me too. Im worried for them lol

[@berylsavanah9508]

😂This was 12 years ago im sure they're doing alright now.

[@1DennisK]

Coolidge Effect 18:00... an old joke about Calvin Coolidge when he was President ... The President and Mrs. Coolidge were being shown [separately] around an experimental government farm. When [Mrs. Coolidge] came to the chicken yard she noticed that a rooster was mating very frequently. She asked the attendant how often that happened and was told, "Dozens of times each day." Mrs. Coolidge said, "Tell that to the President when he comes by." Upon being told, the President asked, "Same hen every time?" The reply was, "Oh, no, Mr. President, a different hen every time." President: "Tell that to Mrs. Coolidge."

[@grunder20]

this is a good discussion.

[@mohamedk.badenjki8781]

Thank you Sir.

[@Salvejohnny93]

The shade toward Jeffrey Miller was just fantastic.

[@poobumweefat]

people may think i’m listening to taylor swift...but i’m actually listening to Stanford 16. Human Sexual Behaviour II

[@calebrussell8325]

Best flow in the game

[@baldwintheanchorite]

lowkey "wallow in the world of pheromones" is one of the most fire lines of 2010 (and i am including all rap published in the same year) x

[@TheSocialSmilingMonkey]

Olfactory senses in rodents are highly evolved in comparison to humans. In that the neurological pathways to said region to amygdala illicit massively different nature's. Albeit similarities do give a slightest inclination on the senses and processes involved in humans . Great lectures 👌

[@princesspiper2595]

This is interesting to say the least...somewhat detailed for the hour in which I listen (3.31am) however, mental note to self to pay closer attention to the knowledge he is so generously sharing with all of us on this platform. Now that's awesome! If I were a Stanford student paying big bucks to attend these lectures, I'd be very annoyed of their widespread availability, lol. Suffer!! This guys information deserves big audiences, thank you to whomever responsible for sharing, much gratitude.

[@vincentperling1253]

Clearly explains sexuality. Even throws in humor.

[@im19ice3]

the emotional roller-coaster i got with this one 😰

[@mominsetu]

"All bonobo chimps play the guiter & sing soulfully" 😂 Sapolsky you're a hell of a comedian! 😂

[@FunBoarder24]

aaah never woul've guessed that, thank you!

[@laithinator3000]

@Stanford do not ever remove these lectures.

[@Blonde111]

Hope the student tape his lectures, lotsa info to learn and digest!

[@williesnyder2899]

I had a first long term relationship with a beautiful young woman who was born with adrenal hyperplasia and hypothyroidism. She was very open about her condition - perhaps too much for the ignorant early 1980’s and this then-ignorant mate - and had multiple predictable side effects. Beside the misfortunes of her familial “upbringing,” my stupidity about how to have a successful human relationship, her life was not all that it could or should have been… I wish in retrospect that I had accessed additional information on her endocrine conditions and their attendant overt symptoms. She was a good person.

[@nereidayares3387]

2011 I was just entry to university and no have computer and less my english was not enough... OMG I have been in darkness. Congratulations and thank you to share this excellent material.

[@dejanmarkovic3040]

Me encantaria enseñarte. Soy maestro hace doce años y siempre busco a estudiantes quien intetesan las mismas cosas que me...la majoria de mis estudiantes son psicologos, neurologo, psiciatres o estudiantes de psicologia. Pero obviamente, no podemos usar español, porque no hablo tan bien, asi que tienes que ser...de menos nivel a2.

[@MasalaMan]

this one was confusing and there was lot of stuff to take in, have to rewatch

[@maryamfallahi3656]

Thank you very much.

[@user-xd4rs6vr4n]

survival of the beardiest

[@mikeskidmore6754]

The Coolidge effect is a biological phenomenon seen in animals, whereby males exhibit renewed sexual interest whenever a new female is introduced to have sex with, even after cessation of sex with prior but still available sexual partners. To a lesser extent, the effect is also seen among females with regard to their mates.

[@geoffreybermingham454]

Or, in modern parlence, the "new and strange" syndrome that every guy will admit to.

[@smileyent.3055]

@@geoffreybermingham454 what’s that

[@sulekha3771]

@@geoffreybermingham454polygyny?

[@BenjaminTheBatchelor]

This guy's beard growth rate accelerates

[@mclean2099]

Fascinating!

[@unity2BC]

amazing eye opening stuff ,thankyou ,

[@Christobanistan]

When I was 33, my endocrinologist prescribed this Testosterone gel, even though I was already at a slightly elevated level. I can confirm not only did I feel far better, the level of sexual behavior is definitely causal!

[@LeeGee]

Thank you

[@FromJunkToJanha]

does anybody know if I can find the handouts for this lecture?

[@squaretriangle9208]

14:00 The flehmening is something else: the curling up the upper lip and showing the front teeth in order to have a better sense of smell: horses, dogs, cats do this

[@fionafiona1146]

🦒 Do that in the process , inspiring their extreme behaviour named such.

[@OatmealTheCrazy]

Can you feel that MacLeod? It's The Flehmening!

[@user-yv3si6ij1o]

if you like these videos you might also like contrapoints I think the way they give information is similar. Topics have some common themes but much more political

[@ronnyron2631]

Brilliant

[@keogh2857]

Anybody found those classics by Dr.Anonymous?

[@dorothywinslet428]

The President and Mrs. Coolidge were being shown separately around an experimental government farm. When Mrs. Coolidge came to the chicken yard she noticed that a rooster was mating very frequently. She asked the attendant how often that happened and was told, "Dozens of times each day." Mrs. Coolidge said, "Tell that to the President when he comes by." Upon being told, the President asked, "Same hen every time?" The reply was, "Oh, no, Mr. President, a different hen every time." President: "Tell that to Mrs. Coolidge."

[@GuillermoValleCosmos]

i love this

[@PaulWalker-lk3gi]

I keep waiting for him to say, "And the answer is.... a Daily Double!"

[@guyspicks5308]

"We'd see different levels of palmated hair, in certain neighborhoods..." I don't know how many people caught that one 😂 Sapolsky is great

[@MrMoekanz]

I don't get it

[@PerfectStorm1986]

Me either

[@elinannestad5320]

I heard it as 'pomading' hair, just meaning putting stuff in your hair to make yourself more attractive.

[@brianstephens8337]

@@MrMoekanz Palmated means "looking like a hand with the fingers extended"; a hairstyle like this would probably be a mohawk, so I assumed it was a throwaway joke about punk kids.

[@jasonl888]

It IS pomading .. as in putting Pomade in their hair... look at the transcript

[@estherloidanc]

Great teacher. Truly ties phy chm to phsyc.

[@nilbog972]

The perfume study makes me so curious because there are so many types of perfume. How many in this current day actually have those “male hormones”?

[@kueichenglee7583]

thank you

[@icreatedanaccountforthis1852]

This was engaging.

[@innerbeing1983]

Hey guys, which Sapolsky book should I read first? I love these lectures!!! Thanks!

[@carlosandres7006]

Zebras book was very good, but i think that A primate's memoir is a more personal one.

[@innerbeing1983]

Thank you!

[@Bezugsperson]

Which literature does he suggest? Is there any with this nice depiction which ends in behavior he wrote on the board? Thanks in advance

[@monocharismatic]

Look up the books Robert Sapolsky published. In addition to the content in his books, there are meticulous references to sources, like 50% of the book is references. Enjoy!

[@deanhowell6730]

What is exclude to you tube in the last two lectures?

[@beemini3374]

Chastity belts likely never really existed in the way they have been imagined. There is an article on Atlas Obscura.

[@andrew7693]

I’d love to read the IRB the lap dance researcher submitted 😂😂😂. I’m pretty sure they didn’t have IRBs then but it would have been great, no doubt.

[@tommytllefsen3863]

Skilled orator

[@lama-rask]

Can someone tell me what the readings are?

[@nielsniels5008]

Where is the time stamp comment 😭

[@vaughanmerrick]

the transcript is hilarious - clearly this was not remotely edited!

[@painpeace3619]

Good video

[@arrabalimaz622]

how more lectures is there

[@arawiri]

I love numerous number 16 full stop 🛑

[@berylsavanah9508]

This man has a huge sense of humor 😂