Book Notes

Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers by Robert Sapolsky

First, a caveat. I feel my approach to reading this book is important to address. I am not a biologist or anything close to that. I read this book because I have become engrossed with the concept of free will and knowledge of self. After all, how can I answer the question of "who am I?" without first understanding "what am I?" I toiled with the existential for so long, performing thought experiments and reading philosophy and religious books, but I never really felt that my effort was fruitful. I was often disappointed. After years of mindful walks and tortured bed rotting, I realized I had skipped over a very important step: examining the natural world.

I got distracted writing that. My true intention was to tell you that I listened to this as an audiobook, and there were times when I was NOT paying close attention. My goal wasn't to memorize but to passively engage with this book and pick up on some interesting information here and there. So, this is by no means a definitive review or summary. This post is simply to jot down a few of the ideas that stuck with me when I was reading this book. These are my notes.