Human behavior

Human behavior refers to the array of every physical action and observable emotion associated with individuals, as well as the human race as a whole. While specific traits of one's personality and temperament may be more consistent, other behaviors will change as one moves from birth through adulthood. In addition to being dictated by age and genetics, behavior, driven in part by thoughts and feelings, is an insight into individual psyche, revealing among other things attitudes and values.

There's definitely, definitely, definitely, no logic to human behaviour.
- Björk, 1993

CONTENT : A - F, G - L, M - R, S - Z, See also, External links

Quotes

Quotes are arranged alphabetically by author

A - F

• The enduring assumption that human behaviour is governed by innate morality and reason is at odds with the persistence of human deprivation, inequality, injustice, misery, brutality and conflict.
  • Nayef Al-Rodhan, Emotional amoral egoism (2008), p.16

• Policies should take account of the emotional dimensions of human behaviour rather than assuming rational action.
  • Nayef Al-Rodhan, Emotional amoral egoism (2008), p.203

• BEHAVIOR, n. Conduct, as determined, not by principle, but by breeding.
  • Ambrose Bierce, The Cynic's Dictionary (1906); republished as The Devil's Dictionary (1911).

• There's definitely, definitely, definitely, no logic to human behaviour
  . . .
  There's no map
  And a compass
  Wouldn't help at all
  • Björk, "Human Behaviour" (single; 1993)

• Man can influence his life through his own conduct, and that in this process conscious thinking and wanting can play a part. ... Those who are striving to improve the lot of man may ground their hopes.
  • Albert Einstein, Why Socialism? (1949) Monthly Review [1] New York (May 1949)

G - L

Oh, I could tell you, but you're far too clever to listen. That said, we're never too old to be students of our own behaviors, Jean-Luc. ~ Akiva Goldsman

• Oh, I could tell you, but you're far too clever to listen. That said, we're never too old to be students of our own behaviors, Jean-Luc.
  • Spoken by Q (played by John de Lancie) in the Star Trek: Picard Season 2 Episode 2 "Penance" (March 3, 2022) by Akiva Goldsman & Terry Matalas and Christopher Monfette (Teleplay) as well as by Michael Chabon and Akiva Goldsman & Terry Matalas and Christopher Monfette (Story). See also: The middle of Youtube Video "Q Slapped Picard | Star Trek: Picard S02E02" (10.03.2022) by user "Star Trek Friendly".

• Game theory is about how people cooperate as much as how they compete... Game theory is about the emergence, transformation, diffusion and stabilization of forms of behavior.
  • Herbert Gintis, Game Theory Evolving: A Problem-Centered Introduction to Modeling Strategic Interaction (2000) pp. xxiv-xiv.

• Institutions are human behavior, and they are, therefore, to be explained by the characteristics of that behavior.
  • George C. Homans (1962), "Autobiographical introduction", in: Sentiments & activities; essays in social science, p. 35

M - R

• Human behavior is predictable, but, as in physical science, accurate prediction hinges on the correctness of underlying theoretical assumptions.
  • Douglas McGregor, The Human Side of Enterprise (1960), p. 11

• I discovered long ago that, if you write a book about cats or dogs, everybody loves you, but if you dare to write a book about human beings, all hell breaks loose. It is impossible to write an uncensored, honest book about human behaviour without offending at least part of your audience. If you feel you have a basic truth to tell, then you must tell it and be prepared to suffer the inevitable criticisms.
  • Desmond Morris in: "The Dan Schneider Interview 8: Desmond Morris" at cosmoetica.com, first posted 2/16/08.

• I am profoundly skeptical about our abilities to predict the future in general, and human behavior in particular.
  • Errol Morris The Anti-Post-Modern Post-Modernist

• Copyright law as it is, it's just completely out of touch with human behaviour.
  • Nina Paley, "'Intellectual disobedience' and the future of copyright: Nina Paley interviewed at Foo 2012". Retrieved 27 February 2013.

• Mankind will possess incalculable advantages and extraordinary control over human behavior when the scientific investigator will be able to subject his fellow men to the same external analysis he would employ for any natural object, and when the human mind will contemplate itself not from within but from without.
  • Ivan Pavlov, Scientific Study of So-Called Psychical Processes in the Higher Animals.

• The study of human nature must have profound implications for the study of history, sociology, psychology, anthropology, and politics. Each of those disciplines is an attempt to understand human behaviour, and if the underlying universals of human behaviour are product of evolution, then it is vitally important to understand what the evolutionary pressures were.
  • Matt Ridley, The Red Queen (1993), Ch. 1. Human Nature

S - Z

• Since 1978, when a pail of water was dumped over my Harvard friend E. O. Wilson for saying that genes influence human behaviour, the assault against human behavioural genetics by wishful thinking has remained vigorous.
  But irrationality must soon recede. It will soon be possible to read individual genetic messages at costs which will not bankrupt our health systems. In so doing, I hope we see whether changes in DNA sequence, not environmental influences, result in behaviour differences. Finally, we should be able to establish the relative importance of nature as opposed to nurture.
  • James Watson, in "James Watson: To question genetic intelligence is not racism", in The Independent (19 October 2007).

See also

• Free will
• Organizational behavior
• Social theory