內容簡介

「若是說這本書是我看過最好看的非小說之一，絕對不誇張」─David P. Barash，華爾街日報

我們為什麼做出我們正在做的動作？

腦神經科學專家羅伯特‧薩博斯基首先針對一個動作發生的瞬間，大腦會有什麼變化，從影像、聲音、味道對神經系統造成了什麼影響，導致它下了做出某個行為的決定，賀爾蒙又是如何運作，讓神經系統改變對行動的指令。

接著跳脫時間回到過去，檢視受到神經系統改變做出的行為，在過去一個月間是怎麼變化，最後以人類的發展和革命後留下來的痕跡做結尾，說明文化如何塑造個人的行為。

薩伯斯基用說故事的方式，敘述一個很重要的想法，也藉此回答了人類最艱難的問題，例如：部落文化和仇外、階級制度和競爭、道德和自由意志、戰爭和和平之間的關係。

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

'Awe-inspiring… You will learn more about human nature than in any other book I can think of' Henry Marsh

'One of the best scientist-writers of our time' Oliver Sacks

Why do human beings behave as they do?

We are capable of savage acts of violence but also spectacular feats of kindness: is one side of our nature destined to win out over the other?

Every act of human behaviour has multiple layers of causation, spiralling back seconds, minutes, hours, days, months, years, even centuries, right back to the dawn of time and the origins of our species.

In the epic sweep of history, how does our biology affect the arc of war and peace, justice and persecution? How have our brains evolved alongside our cultures?

This is the exhilarating story of human morality and the science underpinning the biggest question of all: what makes us human?