Robert Sapolsky comments further on the war and human aggression. Topics include: The neurological similarity between human and primate neurons, yet no chimp has ever killed another chimp over ideology, over religion, or over arguments about economic systems. War propaganda and deciding another group is so different from us they don't even count as human. How different ecosystems produce different aggressive behavior: pastoralists vs farmers vs hunter-gatherers. The amygdala, the part of the brain most linked to aggression and it's also the part of the brain that's most linked to fear. Aggression and social hierarchy -- being subordinate and aggression towards subordinates. PTSD in combat veterans, inability to sleep, tendency to see threat everywhere. No single gene for aggression. The frontal cortex regulation of socially appropriate behavior. Death Row inmates commonly have concussive damage to the frontal cortex. Individualistic versus collective culture. Increase in domestic violence after wars. Famous psychology experiments, Stanford's Prison Experiment and the Milgram order-following experiment, and how the behavior of the experimenters (Phil Zimbardo and Stanley Milgram) altered the outcomes of the experiments. Violence in movies, TV shows, and video games. Humans vs neanderthals, and cannibalism, or lack thereof. The Cold War and having somebody else fight your wars (disagreement with Steven Pinker). Cooperation vs aggression: survival of the fittest survived or the friendliest? (Thinking about Darwin).

I don't know who the interviewer is other than that she's a Russian in Israel.

Prof. Robert Sapolsky. Primate and human wars. What's behind our aggression? - A talk?

#primatology #aggression #war #ukraineconflict