By Robert Sapolsky
I forgot to write notes on this when I finished it. It covered a lot of familiar material that is addressed in his other books. This one talked A LOT about glucocorticoids. It was a fine book, although I don’t know that I had any major new revelations. Many members of the book club did not finish reading it, although they mostly still said nice things. As we had experienced with The Myth of Normal, the parents in the group found the information stressful because it makes them think about the ways they could negatively affect their children. Those without kids didn’t find the same stress in it. In general, I find that Sapolsky’s work makes me feel more empathy for others. Behavior that might rub me the wrong way is shown to be the result of systems beyond an individual’s control. Some members of the book club were disappointed that there wasn’t more of a prescription about what to do with this information. I appreciate the absence of it. He doesn’t simplify the science down to a simple mantra and he doesn’t claim the ability to explain things that he doesn’t have evidence for. It’s incomplete information, but it’s honest.