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
I think the relationship between social-dominance orientation in people and the extent to which they're made uncomfortable by ambiguity and novelty is really important. Better a stable world that's familiar, in which I'm doing pretty poorly, than dealing with all the ambiguity of a changing world.
Interpretation
What this quote means
People often prefer a stable, familiar environment even if it is less favorable, rather than face the uncertainties of change.
This quote by Robert Sapolsky highlights the psychological tendency of individuals to favor familiar and stable situations over the discomfort that comes with ambiguity and novelty. It suggests that many would choose a less ideal but predictable life instead of confronting the challenges that arise in a dynamic and uncertain world, emphasizing our inherent resistance to change and preference for certainty.
Themes
StabilityChangePsychologyAmbiguityPreference
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about adapting to new workplace technologies, one might quote this to highlight resistance to change.
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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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