Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst

by Robert M. Sapolsky

While a few other species have regular nonreproductive sex, we’re the only ones to talk afterward about how it was.

In order to accommodate the pleasures of both mathematics and orgasms, the system must constantly rescale to accommodate the range of intensity offered by particular stimuli.

Authoritarian parenting tends to produce adults who may be narrowly successful, obedient, conformist (often with an undercurrent of resentment that can explode), and not particularly happy.

Moreover, inequality expands enormously when cultures invent inheritance within families. Once invented, inequality became pervasive.