The biology of our best and worst selves | Robert Sapolsky

[@007MrYang]

This is the man that got me interested in neuroscience and biology in general. I can't get enough of his lectures.

[@uygy15]

007MrYang ikr? i just got hooked now i cannot stop. its just so interesting!

[@michaelpondo6324]

Yes tell trump to listen to his lectures and look into his own soul. A true sociopath looks back as trump looks into a mirror.

[@chandanahuja82]

Same!

[@project_X_design]

@@michaelpondo6324 dont bring politics into this. I personally am a person of science, not bullshit.

[@captainathens1658]

@@michaelpondo6324 you watch the news too much.

[@CallMeWB]

A bonafide genius. His ability to effortlessly describe very complex things in simple clear language is the hallmark of a master

[@MindfieIds]

Main lesson is "be really careful, really cautious before you think you know what causes a behavior, specially if it's a behavior you are judging harshly ... Every bit of behavior can change with circumstances ..."

[@MindfieIds]

Sapolsky is one of my favorite scientist that studies human behavior, thinking, evolution, condition, genetics or evolution. He really understands the human being and his society.

[@keithklassen5320]

walperstyle Or you could question the value of individuality, and how centuries of advertising have eroded culture's senses of common good to make people more easily manipulated by greed.

[@themuse11]

yes - and it's psychological inroad to the human psyche & the way it justifies itself is by promoting moral relativism.

[@themuse11]

When people say things like 'common good' or 'greater good' ... I wonder if they really give much thought to what that means. Here is a quote: 'Better never means better for everyone' - The Commander in Handmaid's tale trying to justify Offred's situation (slavery, rape). He's !00% right. And that means some people will have state-sanctioned violence used against them, their rights violated - and worse - it means that the ones who are the beneficiaries don't quite care, and like to use those phrases 'greater good' and 'common good' to justify it.

[@naturallaw1733]

"Stop, think to yourself; 'how can bad people use this to control my individuality and freedom?" ?? and that's what you're doing with all that Libertarian Dogma you keep regurgitating? Lol

[@magedabuldahab7481]

In just 15 minutes he gave us his wisdom in a silver plater, +30 years of field research in kenya, summarized his Stanford's biology lectures, best ever TED lecture and lecturer offcoarse

[@physicsevolutionandscope9588]

Bcoz he is a jew😉

[@kellyberry4173]

Amen.

[@arinb.9176]

@J. B. Hamel you had to bring in politics here, didn't you? I've completely lost hope in humanity.

[@j.v.5499]

@J. B. Hamel Can you give an example of what you mean? I know you commented quite some time ago, and I'm curious why you made that assessment.

[@luisito7018]

@@physicsevolutionandscope9588 hahahahahaha nice one

[@IlaughedIcried]

I have an educational crush on Robert Sapolsky like NO OTHER. I've listened to every lecture of his I can find, and I would listen to anything else he lectured about -- balsa wood, rubbing alcohol, the history of tapioca pudding. I don't even understand how one person can be so smart, eloquent, funny and accessible all at once.

[@sierra9713]

You articulated that perfectly! SAME!!

[@Mountiansidecalm]

Can someone just put him in the body of a 27 year old so I can date him? 🙄

[@lyleyla9275]

Found this guy on accident...a biology prof at Stanford, I happened upon one of his lectures. I cannot get enough of him. He is an extraordinarily fascinating human being who every one of us can learn a great deal from!

[@IlaughedIcried]

Same -- I discovered his lectures while looking for something else entirely, and am now a rabid fan! Watching every single thing he's videotaped! He makes me want to go back to school and get a second degree!

[@srilakshmi3637]

@@IlaughedIcried me too!

[@nikolademitri731]

If y’all haven’t read the book version of this talk, “Behave”, I can’t recommend it enough. I just finished the audiobook, again it’s a masterpiece. I’d put it right next to, ‘The Mismeasure of Man’, as one of the best books on human behavior, and the facts of nature/nurture, that I’ve ever read.

[@formxshape]

Same… he speaks and we’d all benefit to listen.

[@donkeydonkey33]

this guy has great bio lectures on stanfords youtube page

[@angelic8632002]

Steven Lake I second this. Highly recommended.

[@JohnBastardSnow]

One of the most fascinating courses you can take. He also has amazing lectures on The Great Courses (under paywall, totally worth it).

[@mirzamay]

Steven Lake thank you.

[@mrs_d3n1mx28]

they were life changing for me.

[@reasondroid5544]

Agree - Sapolsky's work / lectures greatly changed my perspectives on life.

[@psychologyis]

By far the most sophisticated Ted talk I've seen. There's a lot of footage of Sapolsky lecturing on KZbin for those who want more.

[@Hannah-om3bk]

Robert Sapolsky is ever inspiring and incredible. Everything he studies is very much suggestive of the poignant truth that humans are deeply flawed, and still quite beautiful regardless. I would love to meet him.

[@MrKrickea]

JavaScript KZbin

[@anondoggo]

Deeply flawed? Perhaps you are, just don't speak for anyone else.

[@carlarecaido6951]

Cindy Shi what is deeply flawed, is that as humans we inevitably make mistakes. At some point before coming to adult stage we all have have juvenile brain. Listen to this ted talk to further understand

[@tahataimur1859]

@@anondoggo really so human beings are perfect? we have no flaws? we who over the course of our history have killed each other in the hundreds of millions? fantastic.

[@tahataimur1859]

@Cliff Hanley our own? we are great and we are terrible. Yet it is the capacity for being great that also gives us the capacity for being terrible even so being terrible is our flaw. We have murdered each other by the millions and oppressed each other by the billions since our dawn. You can add to that our biological and psychological as well as emotional limitations. Complexity does not mean perfection.

[@GenJotsu]

Hugh Thompson - A man willing to mow down his own allies to protect his enemies from rape and slaughter. I'm honored to have even known such an amazing person. Thank you.

[@101yayo]

Enemies??? Civilians. If babies and old women are your enemies you are definitely in the wrong.

[@sca-london]

@@101yayo The enemies of the US Government, not the enemies of the American people.

[@jeffjohnson8624]

Hugh Thomson was a hero. And an honorable human being. He did the right thing when others were in a state of low consciousness. ☮️🎶🖖War brings out the worst in people. Especially, when stress is high. it's kind of disgraceful that American soldiers did that stuff. it's like don't rape. Period. no shooting babies and women and elderly women.

[@michelemarie2568]

No decent reason to be at war in Vietnam for anyone . . . Thompson may have been your hero -- my heroes chose jail or Canada rather than kill innocent people in a war that had no meaning.

[@dunzek943]

"This isn't what freedom looks like..."

[@KarlSnarks]

9:34 funnily enough it's also more complicated for baboons. While they're generally a very aggressive species with a very stratified group hierarchy, there's one instance where this changed. There was a group that lived near a dumpsite where they took food from, and as usual the dominant males ate first. However, some of the food was poisonous, and those dominant males died, leaving the more submissive males and females. The females did not feel the danger of violent reprisal anymore, and started mating the surviving males, who had a much more peaceful and mild disposition. Because of their genes and the way they raised their new young the group stayed peaceful and altruistic. So even a little shuffling of the genepool, and a nicer environment, completely changed the predisposition of these baboons.

[@drzeworyj]

that's Sapolsky's story

[@MarmaladeINFP]

There probably wasn't enough time to cause much genetic change. More probable, it was epigenetic changes. In research, it's been mostly a failure in finding genes that directly link to much of anything specific.

[@KarlSnarks]

@@MarmaladeINFP The less dominant males already had genes that made them more cooperative than their aggressive peers (or environmental pressures that made them like that, including epigenetic) so it's perfectly possible if it's because of their genes, that they transferred those to the next generation, which is what I meant with shuffling.

[@VaclavChlad]

No, its not "more complicated". He just stated, that generally they evolved to being violent. Thats true and this story of their change under certain cirmustances (yes, that is his story), has really nothing to do with it.

[@johnmarkhatfield]

what’s more interesting still, dr zapolski re visited this group and noticed all of the monkeys he studied had died out, but the non-violent culture was passed down.

[@crucio6199]

This also serves to highlight how important it is for us to treat 'now' as carefully as possible because it then would in some way impact our actions in the future.

[@Darkphantaria]

I love this guy, how can we keep him alive forever?

[@sorcerykid]

That's something I've been concerned about lately too. Having seen some of his more recent lectures, it's clear he's aging. And I wish it were possible for him to live forever, because his spirit and intellect is world changing and we cannot afford to lose him.

[@deksroning125]

@@sorcerykid Biological immortality by 2030 or 2035. We've successfully reversed aged skin in a woman by 30 years. Regenerative medicine is entering the larger scope by 2025... and technology and science evolve exponentially. Death is NOT inevitable.

[@ソトヤママリアテレサ]

The wealthy are working on immortality. But it won't be available for the public. Only the wealthy will have access to it. The Immortality should be available for the wealthy by 2030. -j from my wife's KZbin with her permission of course. Good guys ask if it's okay to do anything. Be so good that if someone were to impersonate you on Facebook, no one you know would believe what the impersonator writes. ☮️🎶Use your brain to get what your heart desires. ☮️🎶

[@what_how_n_whyy9412]

same worries here 😢

[@Jerkules555]

With biology? 😂

[@TinaSotis]

God, I love listening to this generous,compassionate, and articulate genius

[@alexparamount]

Robert Sapolsky is like a neuroscience/behaviour rock star!

[@davidmunoz4022]

is neuroscience the same as human behavior biology / neural biology?

[@Wildcard1992]

David Munoz it's a very broad subject with several sub-disciplines. Neuroscientists study both behavioural and neural biology, and a multitude of other things as well.

[@DanielBrownsan]

What do you mean "like" a rockstar?

[@reasondroid5544]

Danielsan B Sapolsky a legend against ignorance

[@MrMattgood14]

15 minutes of pure knowledge! It is so good that a man who is studying this for 20+ years can take some minutes to share a bit with us! Thank you, internet!

[@GenJotsu]

Beautiful. It takes the strongest person to admit that they were wrong.

[@grubbsgrady96]

one of the best speeches ever

[@psychologyis]

Grubbs Grady truly

[@Q_QQ_Q]

Exactly

[@TheTennAce]

I highly recommend his book "Behave", the scope and scholarly quality is on another level

[@TheShreeku]

Such lucid explanation and such great examples. Thank you Dr Sapolsky.

[@lrm52283]

I'm going through all his lectures and this is one of the most powerful nights if my life. I'm understanding the connecting between my childhood, heredity, hashimotos, and depression. I'm understanding how we can live simultaneously as predetermined slaves, yet we live with complete free will. Strange loops of all kinds are seeming natural. As an empath and artist, I am so grateful for this wisdom!

[@Oneiric_Benevolence]

Sapolsky doesn't believe there is any free will at all. He even has a book now on this subject specifically. Interesting how you can watch his lectures and still come out thinking there is complete free will, he is basically trying to hammer in the exact opposite.

[@reasondroid5544]

MIND BLOWING!!! Sapolsky at it again, blowing away ignorance of the world.

[@peepalfarm]

I understand and agree with it. Where does that leave us on topic of personal responsibility then?

[@VaclavChlad]

Listen to some podcast with Sapolsky where he speaks about free will and you will see thats a really good question :D

[@kemalistdevrimturkaydnlanm168]

You are and your behaviour is end result of your ancestry, dna, hormones, experienced environments, therefore you don’t have a free will that’s what he teaches us and I love his scientific mind.

[@ashleya3731]

My primatology professor suggested Sapolsky in 2020 for a read and I am now in love eoth his work and how he shares his knowledge with the world. Share him with anyone and everyone lovelies 💜

[@AkiraSumida1]

"What we're left with here is this inevitable cliche: 'Those who don't study history are destined to repeat it'. What we have here is the opposite: Those who don't study the history of extraordinary human change; those who don't study the biology of what can transform us from our worst to our best behaviors; those who don't do this are destined not to be able to repeat these incandescent, magnificent moments."

[@cliffhanley2120]

Why might he believe that those of us who don't study those things won't be able to magnificent things? Did the heroes he talked about here study those things?

[@nicolassalliou2352]

@@cliffhanley2120 It's called being inspired. It does not mean you cannot do it without knowing them, it's just making it more likely.

[@andrius00]

Thank you for writing this out

[@murraydunn6704]

@@nicolassalliou2352 "being inspired"? Robert would describe that as the result of a cascade of biological and physiological causes stretching back millions of years. You have no more control over your "inspiration" than you do over digesting your last meal.

[@Kadosknight]

Wow that ending! Had to listen to it 3 times to understand and appreciate it. LET US STUDY ALL OF THOSE!

[@magedabuldahab7481]

finally we had a TED by the one and only Dr Sapolsky

[@fabiocaetanofigueiredo1353]

At 3:25 of this spectacular lecture Prof. Sapolsky is basically describing a bottom-up vs top-down (his favorite) approaches to the problem.

[@reid_blackmon]

Thank God this guy doesn't want to torture me

[@jairosequeira233]

He could've said, netanyahu or fxxxxx kissinger. But no, he had to pick on poor hitler. When are they gonna stop it...

[@fullmetajacket2090]

if you don't consider this video torture, you aren't thinking hard enough about the human condition. #edgelord #preemptive

[@kennyw871]

Thank "god" he doesn't believe in "god."

[@lofiafterdark9882]

nutrino I thought the same thing.

[@rogsolaris7411]

How do you know he doesn’t want to torture you?

[@梨-i5l]

He's always so eloquent and really uses good storytelling to builds upon his points. For me, everyone is an us. Every human being is an individual worthy of respect and human decency, including ourselves, and if we all kept that same basic assumption when interacting with others there'd be less violence.

[@guystoker7468]

I never tire of watching/listening to Dr Robert Sapolsky, he is phenomenal

[@fioreariadne]

Learned about this guy in a neuroscience class, have been watching his Stanford lectures just for fun since then. Men like him make science interesting and accesible.

[@yeseulpark7754]

a liberating and moving lecture. I am reading 'behave' now. Thank you. Just what I needed.

[@kassiba]

I think it is about being truly conscious, being sufficiently aware to act rather than react, to decide, in plain conscience, from a higher perspective. That moment when we define, through volition, who we are and who we want to be, when we become the true actors of our lives. All these people who made compassionate moves made it because they expanded their minds and consciousness out of the boundaries we normally keep ourselves in.

[@princesspinecone3884]

I love sapolsky this is a nice nutshell of some of what this man studies and has tried to understand in himself and all of us. His delivery is humble sometimes humorous. Concise. Clear. And compassionate

[@helganatoli4705]

I have listened to a few lectures of yours and felt like sending gratitude to you. More than the actual scientific findings themselves I absorbed through these lectures, I found myself fascinated by your ways of expressing, of bringing the findings to the foreground, through fluent language that combines the scientific fact to the human story, the storytelling, this allowed me to relate to your work, not feel it either too technical, analytical or too philosophic, abstract, rather balanced and centered on the practical human experience. Thank you professor for your unique contribution, the inspiration, the example 💗

[@sunnyshine1329]

Sapolsky the best lecturer in the whole world

[@reasondroid5544]

A LEGEND against ignorance. Robert Sapolsky.

[@bridgerarnold6412]

This wasn't long enough. I need a 40 minute version.

[@justgivemethetruth]

Read the book, or listen to a ton of other lectures or talks given by Sapolsky. These ideas are also featured in a series of documentaries called "Unnatural Causes" which is very enlightening.

[@sorellman]

Human behavior is weird? Compared to what? To zebras? The rest of the speech is, how should I put it, weird, compared to a rational logical understanding of the nature of being human. To begin with there is no such thing as biology of self. From the time of Socrates we knew the self is energy, as in spirit energy, not biology, something confirmed today by the way of transpersonal psychology. Starting from this false premises everything goes downhill with his talk, and when Sapolsky tells us that the brain tells the muscles what to do, we know we are on the wrong track since as many scientists have established in the last decades, consciousness is something apart from the brain, from the physical aspect of being human. We the spirit energy is what sends the command to a brain that then makes it manifest as sound, movement and such. Speaking of our best self, we act the way we understand reality, and fed in churches and schools a false representation of the nature of being human, we end up in existential chaos, a state we have been in for thousands of years now. Things are about the change though.

[@D3ADSY]

No biology of the self? How do you explain the people in a brain injury unit at a hospital? Their functional impairments are related to the specific areas of their brain that get damaged. How does spirit energy explain that?

[@sorellman]

Ben Bicakci You have no understanding of what the world "self" stands for. Not your fault, it is our education system's. So, the spirit energy uses the brain to make manifest commands it sends to the brain. If certain areas of the brain are damaged, the manifestation is not going to happen. How do you explain the despite the fact that Stephen Hawking is inert in a wheelchair he can communicate thoughts by the way of a computer? His spirit energy produces those thoughts within a damaged body. The brain is still functional, but the rest of the body is not. When you talk to Hawking and Hawking is talking to you, you are communicated with his spirit energy. The body, the hard drive is biology, the spirit energy is high frequency energy, sophisticated software. So I have to end this by asking you, what is your understanding of self?

[@Metal0sopher]

Clearly you don't have a clue what energy is. Before you start, incorrectly, bringing up physicists please first educate yourself on what energy actually is according the the laws of physics.

[@stewartcohen-jones2949]

This man is thankfully all over the internet. In a world that seems unhinged his voice calms the listener and his words speak to and for us all. The darling of academia is becoming mainstream. The voice of reason we’ve so desperately needed is here.

[@AlfredoAntonioMartinez]

This is the first time that I see a TedEx where the host says in 15 minutes a huge lesson to all of the humanity, cos there is bullets in all directions and I love that, this talk should be 4 hours long and even in that scenario , will not be enough to learn from this man.

[@zarapresso]

I always go back to his lectures each time i fell into relapse. It some sort relax my nervous system a bit knowing that sometimes or smtg we can't control everything but learning about it kinda helps us to establish our vision of ourselves.

[@AnotherGradus]

Check out Robert Sapolsky's lectures, especially his _Human Behavioral Biology_ Stanford course.

[@ramilurazmanov]

I've watched this video at least five times and it still gives me really deep insights about myself. The video is underrated, indeed. Thank you a lot

[@_ADHK293A_]

I'm still in shock. This changes many things for me. Thank you for your work.

[@GenJotsu]

Hugh Thompson was presumably mindful of the ostracism he had faced and the long wait for that medal ceremony in Washington. As he told The Associated Press in 2004: "Don't do the right thing looking for a reward, because it might not come."

[@Q_z_]

I have met and heard his lectures before; Sapolsky is such a great speaker... these are the TED talks I subbed fore.

[@CCaravasi]

What a revelation, I've always been on the fence about humans being ability to change. And I completely believe now it is possible. What great content. Thank you YT for bringing me this video. I love when the algorithm works

[@valeriucasapu1558]

Great minds like professor Sapolsky are shaping our reality and our future. I really enjoyed this talk. Thanks.

[@fatZmello]

One of my fav teachers ..positive vibes your way

[@AnnaSzabo]

Robert, you are my favorite professor, and I’ve learned so so so much from your lectures! Thank you!

[@selimsnotes]

my notes and takeaways from the talk We don’t hate violence, we love it in the right context Pulling a trigger or touching someone has very different meanings in different contexts There are multiple levels of causality for a behavior. An example case: There is man running toward you and holds something that looks like a gun. You shot him 1 sec before: amygdala -> fear, excitement minutes: a large black male is more likely to be shot, or if you are hungry or tired, frontal cortex doesn’t work well and ask you that are you sure if it is a gun Hours to days -> testesteron, stress hormones, alcohol -> they are not the cause but they amplify existing tendencies Weeks to months -> neuroplasticity -> brain changes by experience, if previous months were stressful, amygdala will enlarge, and will be harder to control Years to decades -> adolescence shapes the brain , stress in childhood or as a fetus leads to larger amygdala and elevated stress hormone levels Genes don’t determine anything because they work differently in different environments. Genes and environment interact Centuries -> if ancestors are nomadic herders, mood are that they will have a culture of honor and quick to anger and revenge, and this values can stick around for centuries Millions of years -> evolution, some species have lower aggression levels some higher - if you wanna understand a behavior, there are factors from the second before to millions of years before Its complicated and be careful to conclude what causes a behavior, especially if it’s a one you are judging harshly The single most important having to do with change, every bits of biology can change and it is possible to change in a good way Ecosystems change -> Sahara was a lush grassland Cultures change -> swedes Brains change -> people can get better even the ones who have done bad things We can change our worst sides, history is full of such examples and we are able to change for the better

[@nimim.markomikkila1673]

One of the most important talks. Period.

[@marionraymond2359]

I love the guy at 2:05 taking notes. I imagine him writing "what Robert Sapolsky would do to Hitler" Side note, I absolutely love R. Sapolsky lectures and was super happy to see his name come up in my class text

[@therealzilch]

Fascinating. And logical. And an important message.

[@kellyberry4173]

Robert, I just love you. I'm so glad you are here. You really help me. You are the man!

[@jpgrumbach8562]

How did he help you? What do you still know about the lecture?

[@ignas9218]

Beautifully structured as well. Meaning proceeded by significance. If there's a scientific argument for forgiveness, humanity, and love, this is it right here, folks.

[@heekyungkim8147]

Mr. Sapolsky is best professor i see in KZbin. He is so brilliant.

[@psychologyis]

As a professor, I watch this and rewatch this like game film of a championship performance.

[@timmartin8191]

One of the best presentations I have ever seen on KZbin. An amazing introspective into the human condition.

[@karenreynolds7109]

My suspicion is that much of this comes from the shifting boundaries of "us and them". Often, when you really see yourself in someone else especially those common aspects like family, life struggles, or just wanting to keep those we love safe, then it is harder to do harm: "they are just trying to do their best as I am." I liked Robert's thought process about right and wrong violence. What is at the core of this? Perhaps when aggression comes from a combination of hate with "us and them" attitude, it is wrong? Wrong because it starts a cycle of revenge that often results in many innocent casualities such as the notion, "An eye for an eye". Untimately, it makes everyone blind. Perhaps self-defense or defense of loved ones is the right use of aggression? The intent is to protect and stop rather than harm and hate. Is is all about intent? I wonder.

[@justgivemethetruth]

I think an eye for an eye plus interest is fine ... the problem is that it has historically been done without any kind of due process. Creating justice is often extremely difficult if not impossible, which is why modern states seem to care more about keeping work and business going. The result of that is if you happen to be a victim of crime or violence, such as those My Lai victims there is no justice. The soldiers at My Lai were given minimal sentences .. and when you look at the Viet Nam war itself what was it but a huge crime that killed millions of people and destroyed land and peolpe's futures with birth defects and cancers from Agent Orange. This brings to the focus to our societies and countries, and do they interact any better or worse than people do? Human beings are so far from being intelligent or civilized it is amazing that we think of ourselves as such.

[@sibanought]

"Perhaps self defence or defence of loved ones is the right use of aggression?" - thinking about it objectively, why would using "aggression" (aka; violence) to protect oneself or one's loved ones be any more "right" than using it to protect someone who's a complete stranger we have no relationship with? - And isn't this subjective and tribalistic argument what's historically most often been used to justify group violence and warfare?

[@jht3fougifh393]

@@sibanought Because it is a forced situation at that point. Self defense means that if you do nothing, they will hurt you. Defense is not the same as offense, inherently.

[@antonionascimento5323]

15 minutos de uma extraordinária aula. Muito obrigado.

[@primary5050]

Those who don't study the history of extraordinary human change, those who don't study the biology of what can transform us, those who don't do this are destined not to be able to repeat these incandescent , magnificent moments .......

[@_negentropy_]

Eternally grateful for Dr. Sapolsky.

[@bluelife9503]

so nice talking. His talks give me calmness and confident! Thanks!

[@vicgarcia8198]

I wish I had more knowledge than that PhD but it is almost impossible..he is brilliant..I love him to pieces..he is extraordinary!

[@DeepakJAT0007]

Can't believe I started connecting with scientists at this level from bottom of my heart. First it was Carl Sagan & now this gentleman !

[@begeniusnepal323]

One of the most underrated TED Talk.

[@flexyco]

This is one of my all time favorite video's on the internet. Everyone should see it!

[@kierangargis5734]

I absolutely love his lessons.I learn so much .

[@meghagoyal4516]

This man is insanelyy legit!!! His researcher, we need this kinda people more on social media to let the youth know what legit brains are!!

[@mrshurst2376]

I absolutely love this and everything else that this professor teaches! ❤️

[@kodak3637]

I would love to see and listen to Professors Sapolsky, Dawkins, and Tyson on a panel.

[@MrDjuroXXX]

Add Lawrence Krauss to spice things up

[@ghostling2245]

Tyson wouldn't let them talk unfortunately

[@alikis636]

Amazing talk.. I love his lectures, what an intelligent man!

[@gamezswinger]

Love Robert Sapolsky. He's one of the few scientists that admit they're not perfect. He exposes his own vulnerability. I'd like to see Sam Harris do that more often.

[@Alex1986Sevilla]

It is for videos like this one that I have subscribed to TED. Fascinating.

[@wishesandfishes]

I gotta say that is just about the hardest TED opener I've heard

[@sahasranamam1]

one the best lectures i had ever watched in TED.

[@ayaankekansh]

I may be too late to comment .but this man has filled more wisdom through his a few lectures than what I had accumulated in the last 15 years or so.. rare yet free and accessible.

[@AzizAlghamdi]

I am sold. Going to read his book right away

[@Rapunzel1963]

What a fantastic talk!! An almost perfect blend of the 'nature versus nurture' argument... my personal thoughts are 'it's both'. Unless I'm wrong that's one of the things he has implied.

[@sasanmers9529]

By watching this, can we step back and reflect on ourselves and be a better person every day we wake up? Or do we watch Robert only once and get emotional and forget about things when tomorrow comes?

[@selvasuriya001]

People like him inspires masses towards biology. I never thought biology was this cool.

[@BOSTONSPORTS00]

By far the best Ted Talk I've ever seen

[@vivek96h]

Mental state = brain state = biological state = physical state. I was watching a video on Determinism and Freewill by 'crash course'. The next video on the list was by 'Mallu Analyst' about Robert Sapolsky. After that, came this Ted talk. Feeling blessed and grateful for the KZbin algorithm for having learnt my watching habits and suggesting meaningful videos.

[@mrsANGRYh]

Robert Sapolsky is the greatest discovery of my lifetime, this amazing human has me wanting to study biology 🧬 🧫 🧪

[@Y0sHiikus]

Incredibly underated undersold talk. Enriching and enlightening from start to finish wow!!

[@reprogrammingmind]

Sapolsky is always solid, thank you for this upload!

[@jhoanrivero7885]

I am 40 years old, I am electrician but with this video I have decided change my career, I going to start to study psicology. This matter is the most important thing in this day for me.

[@MrSidney9]

That was excellent. Time flew by so fast watching this.

[@jamiebrown16541]

People just cannot afford to not pay attention yo this sweet man what a lovely way to speak about our most basic instincts and motivation for all behaviour xx

[@chuckabean1]

"something changed" in John Newton, possibly the most ...amazing... understatement of all time!

[@ncedwards1234]

Quite a graceful transition indeed.

[@cliffhanley2120]

What do you think did change in him?

[@AllGasNoBrakes711]

So powerful I immediately replayed it. Too much genius to take in

[@professionalname5298]

Brilliant, Robert Sapolsky is my hero 😁😁

[@premier69]

this is one of the best TED talks EVER!

[@brucewayne5488]

This got dark fast

[@GenJotsu]

Deep, not dark. Like his last statement asked, we need to learn from the past not just things we need to avoid, but things we can remember and cherish as wonderful examples of compassionate altruism.

[@keithklassen5320]

walperstyle The exchange between colonists and Indigenous people's, the exchange of a few gaudy blankets for Manhattan Island, would be a prime example of a consensual exchange that was completely unethical and unconscionable, utterly one-sided and influenced by a complete imbalance of power and need. Wage-slave coal miners destroying their lives just to maintain their debt to the company that controls their every step: another fully consensual exchange, yet completely evil and unethical because of the imbalance of power and need. We have made those things illegal because they were evil, even though they were fully consensual. So yes, we can and will and must interfere between consenting parties. Your existence is based on this. To hold pure capitalism as a moral imperative is to be blind to any sense of what life is like now, and what good we could reach for.

[@naturallaw1733]

Humans + Scarcity + Competition = Rife Injustices & Inequality aka. Capitalism, Corporatism, Free-Market, Libertarianism or whatever else you want to call it. always has, always will ... ;(

[@naturallaw1733]

"Please don't confuse Corporatism with Capitalism ever again. You don't have any clue what you are talking about." now that's pretty Funny right there... ;p first of all, most people in Capitalism don't even get to keep the product of their labour so I don't know what makes you think that they can or do?? you wouldn't have things like Exploitation, Inequality, Slave -Wage etc.. if that were the case. Capitalism is about Competing positions. I'm always trying to make more while you're always trying to lose less. this is an inherently bad situation that will Always lead to the losers further falling behind in their wellbeing while the winners continuously growing theirs. so Capitalism by designed gives rise to all the Socioeconomic woes by its very nature. and second, you can blame whomever you want but the fact is, until you Fundamentally Change the way the Economic System works, the Problems will persist and there will always be someone else to blame.

[@naturallaw1733]

again this Irrational Fear of Government is obscuring your view of Socioeconomics. you're just following an old Political narrative that is more about Ideology than practicality. Corporatism is just a term used by those who are losing & see inequity in this System. but they fail to realize that Capitalism is built on Unfairness by its very design. there could never be an equal/fair playing field in this Game because then the Wealth/Power/Success that is attained under this type of System is greatly hindered in its propagation. just by trying to enforce strict rules/regulations you are paradoxically hurting Capitalist Growth/Efficiency thereby creating another of Capitalisms many Contradictions. there's Always Blame in Capitalism because there's always Great Injustices & Inequalities in its population. there will always be a segment of it that develops the ability to influence the System in the way most beneficial to them because the Incentives/Motivators of Capitalism, Corporatism, Libertarian etc. are ALWAYS the same! where those lines & divisions are drawn is trivial and only matters to each Individuals position in the Economy. what truly is Important is that these Inequalities/Injustices are built-in to the System and therefore it's inevitable that these Problems will exist & grow .. bottom line! you guys are talking about Consequences/Effects of Capitalism, i.e. Governments, Greed, Corruption, Monopoly etc.. but what Needs to be the Main Focus always are the motivating factors... thee CAUSATION of all of this, i.e. the Economic System of Capitalism and how this blueprint affects people's Lives.

[@SoilStainedShirt]

I feel his closing statement sums this lecture up pretty well. ".... Those people are no more special than any of us. Same neurons, same neurochemicals, same biology. What we're left with here, is this inevitable cliche, those who don't study history, are destined to repeat it. What we have here is the opposite of it. Those who don't study the history of extraordinary human change. Those who don't study the biology of what can transform us from our worst to our best behaviors. Those who don't do this are destined not to be able to repeat these incandescent, magnificent moments."

[@jarahc1724]

easily one of my favourite ted talks. Absolutely love Sapolsky :)

[@shhmypupissleepin3015]

One of my favorite speakers on the planet

[@NocturnalJin]

I love that man's brain.