Of Baboons and Men | Robert Sapolsky | EP 390
657,343
Published 2023-10-23
Robert Sapolsky is an American Neuroendocrinology researcher, author, and communicator. He has spent decades studying primates in the wild, written numerous articles and books, as well as produced multiple video series on the subject. By the age of 12, Sapolsky was writing to well known primatologists as a fan, and had also begun teaching himself Swahili with the early ambition of heading to Tanzanian, Mozambique, and Kenya in search of his own primates (Specifically Silverback Gorillas) to study. Not too much later, Sapolsky would make contact with a group of gorillas in Kenya, a group he would visit every year for 25 years, spending 4 months studying them at a time. Sapolsky would go on to become the John A. and Cynthia Fry Gunn Professor at Stanford University, holding joint appointments in several departments, including Biological Sciences, Neurology & Neurological Sciences, and Neurosurgery.
Dr. Peterson's extensive catalog is available now on DailyWire+: bit.ly/3KrWbS8
Ep.390
- Sponsors -
PreBorn!: Help save 11,000 babies from abortion: preborn.com/Jordan
- Links -
For Robert Sapolsky:
Determined (Book) www.amazon.com/Determined-Science-Life-without-Fre…
Behave (Book) www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/592344/determined…
Robert Sapolsky on X twitter.com/robot_sapolsky?lang=en
- Chapters -
(0:00) Coming up
(1:08) Intro
(2:05) Game Theory, the logic of our behavior
(6:13) The shadow of the future
(10:31) You are a community across time, Utilitarian thinking
(15:25) Tit-for-tat, iterative game competitions
(18:00) The Prisoner’s Dilemma
(23:11) Tit-for-tat in bats
(24:24) Signal errors, virtualization
(28:57) Radical forgiveness
(31:20) Shared culture, demonizing the foreign
(33:04) Faith in the possibility of humanity
(36:03) Founder populations
(37:41) Abraham, the underlying ethos
(41:20) Religion and retention
(44:08) Cain and Abel, sacrifice, maturity, and dopamine
(47:30) The extension of knowledge into the future
(50:08) The dopaminergic system, future rewards
(53:00) Agency, quasi-predictability, the power of “maybe”
(56:30) The ultimately addictive slot machine
(57:50) Pattern of the hero
(1:01:50) You’re a winner if people want to play with you
(1:03:39) Freedom of association
(1:05:41) The meaning of “store up your treasure in heaven”
(1:08:56) Punishing generosity
(1:12:48) Playing at the edge of additional generosity
(1:14:20) Baboons, anticipation, the range of pleasures
(1:16:21) Refining taste, the tragic implication
(1:18:40) Dostoevsky, "Notes From the Underground"
(1:20:54) You are not built for satiation
(1:23:32) False adventures, pathology and addiction
(1:26:11) What God lacks
(1:28:00) Studying primates for 30 years
(1:31:13) The result of an abundance of females
(1:37:03) Third party enforcers, cultural transmission
// LINKS //
All socials: linktr.ee/drjordanbpeterson
Website: jordanbpeterson.com/
Events: jordanbpeterson.com/events
Twitter: twitter.com/jordanbpeterson
Instagram: instagram.com/jordan.b.peterson
Facebook: facebook.com/drjordanpeterson
Telegram: t.me/DrJordanPeterson
Newsletter: mailchi.mp/jordanbpeterson.com/youtubesignup
// COURSES //
Discovering Personality: jordanbpeterson.com/personality
Self Authoring Suite: selfauthoring.com/
Understand Myself (personality test): understandmyself.com/
// BOOKS //
Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life: jordanbpeterson.com/Beyond-Order
12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos: jordanbpeterson.com/12-rules-for-life
Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief: jordanbpeterson.com/maps-of-meaning
#JordanPeterson #JordanBPeterson #DrJordanPeterson #DrJordanBPeterson #DailyWirePlus
All Comments (21)
-
YouTube is amazing. I'm a middle aged woman in a middle class town, folding laundry and cooking dinner while listening to this amazing conversation. I love learning like this.
-
I love to hear Dr Peterson talking about evolution, psychology, and human behaviour rather than politics and politicians.
-
Can't believe Sapolsky got me to watch a Peterson video. I'll be back when Sapolsky is.
-
Robert is so patient - the "conversation" goes all over the place via Peterson. I eagerly await Robert's response in all of these interviews. He stays right on the topic Peterson drives to and responds with relevant content. That's the sign of a remarkably kind and intelligent person.
-
More than 15 years ago I declared myself a Sapolsky fan when I saw him for the first time in a documentary. I am a lawyer, but I have never stopped reading about science, from astronomy to biology. Robert's latest book "Behave" is the best science book I have ever read, by far. It is a privilege for someone like me, from the south of the world (Chile), from a small town, to be able to access some of Robert's classes at Stanford that were published on YouTube a few years ago. Thank you Robert Sapolsky for your work and thank you J.P for inviting him and helping spread the knowledge. Long live Youtube ;)
-
I am a doctor from Mexico. Couldn’t imagine a few years ago that these two would talk. Amazing. Refreshing to see someone as passionate as Dr. Sapolsky in the spotlight. Looking forward to that new book!
-
Given how loquacious these two are, I’m very grateful that they were able to give each other space to equally express their ideas. Excellent convo.
-
It's actually emotional for me to see these two minds come together. I have two of Sapolsky's books and I love his way of speaking. I have wanted to see them do an interview for so long.
-
Robert Sapolsky is such a great teacher. I've watched many of his lectures.
-
I like interviews much more when they are not about politics... So captivating and interesting conversation, thank you!
-
Jordan is lovely when he doesn't bend to fit a political narrative. Sapolsky is another gem, who has grown so much in recent years...
-
professor peterson is the professor of the century, he will be remembered for a long long long time
-
I've been waiting for this for about 2 years now since Robert appeared on Andrew Huberman's podcast regarding the topic of Freewill. Been following Dr.Sapolsky and Dr.Peterson's work for years now, it's so great to to see these two together! Thank you for all the important research you two have been contributing
-
Jordan just explained my 60/60 rule of relationships. Put 60% into your relationship (more then you expect to get out) and when you meet someone else willing to do the same thing foster those relationships because the whole will be greater than the sum of its parts. Been one of my values for as long as I can remember.
-
1:00:29 Peterson is learning, he used to interrupt during interviews, this is an example where he caught himself doing it. Hell yeah, loving it. Good job
-
Love this conversation, and it went a lot better than I thought it might. I think Jordan is at his best when he's not dealing with politics or being attacked for the religious aspects of his work. He seemed genuinely interested and invested in this conversation, and when that happens, I think his guests are pleasantly surprised. Dr. Sapolsky is amazing, and if you haven't read his stuff, you should definitely check it out. Really funny and really insightful.
-
I've been waiting eight years for this conversation, even suggested it in an email to JP. Sapolsky's Human Behavioral Biology is epic. I hope these two have a couple of conversations. Another individual I hope JP speaks with is Gabor Mate. THANK YOU!
-
In terms of verbal IQ, interesting research, and intellectualism, smartest guest on your podcast thus far. I've been listening to Robert over 10 years now, they guy is a power house
-
Jordan Peterson needs to do more of these convos with actual scientists instead of politics. This was an objectively good conversation.
-
wonder how Sapolsky feels about there being an antiabortion advert on a video he appears in
