I used to very politely say that if there is free will then it's in all sorts of boring places, like whether you're going to pick up this or that fork as you begin your meal. There really is none: It's all biology.
Robert SapolskyRead
Not a whole lot of us are wrestling somebody for a canned food item in the supermarket or having an ax fight in the jungle clearing. Instead, we sit and think about taxes and the ozone layer.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on the modern human condition, contrasting trivial concerns with the primal struggles of survival.
Robert Sapolsky's quote highlights the complexities of contemporary life, where individuals often find themselves preoccupied with mundane issues, such as taxes and environmental concerns, rather than engaging in the direct, survival-based conflicts of earlier human existence. It suggests a shift in focus from immediate physical survival to abstract intellectual challenges, provoking thought about what constitutes true struggle in today's society.
Themes
Modern LifePrimal StruggleExistential ThoughtHuman ConditionSurvival
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about modern anxieties, one might refer to this quote to emphasize the absurdity of our worries compared to historical survival challenges.
More from Robert Sapolsky
All quotes →When you've wised up enough, there is a very clear conclusion that you have to reach after a while, which is, at the end of the day, it is really impossible for one person to make a difference.
Robert SapolskyRead
My adolescent rebellions took the form of, if anything, passive aggressively doing what was asked of me but doing it ten times more than what was asked of me, so that eventually they'd have to beg me to stop.
Robert SapolskyRead
When humans invented material inequality, they came up with a way of subjugating the low-ranking like nothing ever seen before in the primate world.
Robert SapolskyRead
Yes, genes are important for understanding our behavior. Incredibly important - after all, they code for every protein pertinent to brain function, endocrinology, etc., etc. But the regulation of genes is often more interesting than the genes themselves, and it's the environment that regulates genes.
Robert SapolskyRead
I expected social rank to be the determining factor in health, and in some ways that's true. But far more important is what sort of society that rank occurs in. Being low ranking in a benevolent troop is a hell of a lot better for your blood pressure than being low ranking in an aggressive troop.
Robert SapolskyRead
Similar quotes
It wasn't until I got to Cambridge that I discovered active discrimination against women.
Mary BeardRead
My solitude doesn’t depend on the presence or absence of people; on the contrary, I hate who steals my solitude without, in exchange, offering me true company.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
Too often we spend our time in the past or the future. We need to learn to live now - mentally as well as physically and spiritually.
Joyce MeyerRead
While a modicum of consciousness may have had survivalist properties during an immemorial chapter of our evolution – so one theory goes – this faculty soon enough became a seditious agent working against us … we need to hamper our consciousness for all we are worth or it will impose upon us a too clear vision of what we do not want to see … Consciousness has forced us into the paradoxical position of striving to be unself-conscious of what we are – hunks of spoiling flesh on disintegrating bones
Thomas LigottiRead
Behold Jesus Christ crucified, Who is the only foundation of our hope; He is our Mediator and Advocate; the victim and sacrifice for our sins. He is goodness and patience itself; His mercy is moved by the tears of sinners, and He never refuses pardon and grace to those who ask it with a truly contrite and humbled heart.
Carlo BorromeoRead
We are passing into a social phase in which unless a heroic effort is made for human dignity and freedom, gold will be the sole method of government and therefore the sole standard of manners.
Gilbert K. ChestertonRead