very much like this formulation by Robert Sapolsky, professor of neurology and biology at Stanford University:[*] “The nature of our nature is not to be particularly constrained by our nature.” If we’re constrained by anything, maybe it’s that very open-endedness; strange as it may sound, our miraculous talent for adaptation could also be a liability. Because our nature is so influenceable, different conditions evoke different versions of us, from benign to disastrous. When we reify—set in stone, mentally speaking—the particular way human behavior shows up in a certain place and time, we
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