Behave is a book by Robert Sapolsky about the biological underpinnings of human behavior. The Triune Brain Model Your Brain is Part Reptilian, Part Emotional and Part Neocortex A good way to understand how the human brain works is the Triune Brain Model, which divides the brain into 3 parts: 1) The Reptilian Brain (responsible … Read more
Ed Young is a contributor for the Atlantic. I Contain Multitudes is his fascinating book about the story of microbes, their origins and functions, our relationship with them so far, and how this relationship will develop in the future. Friendly Fire We usually think of microbes as inconveniences. We may wonder how much more pleasant … Read more
Why is Sex Fun? by Jared Diamond tries to explain a seemingly obvious question contained in the title. To most people, the answer is obvious and needs no further explanation. People have sex all the time, because sex is fun, there’s nothing else to explain. But to a scientist like Diamond, this answer is not … Read more
The Story of the Human Body by Daniel E. Lieberman is about how our bodies have evolved across time, how the environment and culture affected our development, and what, if any kind of behavior or lifestyle, is considered optimal for human beings. A Return to the Past Some have called for a return to the … Read more
Even though the human body has come a long way, the journey is far from over. What will the future look like? Will our technologies cure cancer, solve the obesity epidemic, and make people healthier and happier? Or are we headed towards a dystopia as described in WALL-E, where people are chronically ill weaklings who … Read more
The emerging and important new field of evolutionary medicine proposes that we have created an environment that is not well matched for our bodies. While farming led to more food and modern sanitation and medicine led to less infant mortality and increased longevity, there have been many cultural changes that have changed the interactions between … Read more
Some have called for a return to the Paleolithic lifestyle, since it is healthier than our modern world, where people lounge in chairs all day long and eat domesticated plants and animals, and drink coffee. But the short answer is that there is no ideal environment for the human body. For example, short legs helped … Read more
Michael T. Osterholm is an American public-health scientist and a biosecurity and infectious-disease expert, and he wrote Deadliest Enemy: Our War Against Killer Germs. Joe Rogan interviewed Osterholm, who answered questions about the COVID-19 epidemic. Epidemiology Epidemiologists deal with the control of diseases. They have two main goals. The first is to prevent. When that … Read more