The Moral Molecule

The Source of Love and Prosperity

By: Paul J. Zak

Narrated by: Paul J. Zak

Human beings can be so compassionate - and yet they can also be shockingly cruel. What if there was a hidden master control for human behavior? Switch it on and people are loving and generous. Switch it off and they revert to violence and greed. Pioneering neuroeconomist Paul J. Zak has discovered just such a master switch, a molecule in the human brain. The Moral Molecule is a firsthand account of this discovery, revealing how evolution built the Golden Rule into our biology.

From his laboratory in California to the jungles of Papua New Guinea, Zak takes you on an amazing and exciting journey to what it means to be human. Zak’s experiments - what science writer Matt Ridley called “the most revealing in the history of economics” - measure a brain chemical called oxytocin found in the bloodstream. His colleagues sometimes call him the vampire economist. His research team has taken blood from thousands of people as they made decisions with money in the lab, played football out on the field, jumped from an airplane, attended a wedding, and many other situations in which human interactions take place. Ascending from molecules to families to entire societies, Zak’s findings reveal how oxytocin can produce a virtuous cycle of love and prosperity.

The Moral Molecule is a journey well beyond common theories about why we make the decisions we do. Zak explains what underlies the great mysteries of human behavior - why some husbands are more faithful than others; why women tend to be more generous than men; why we are sometimes rational and other times irrational. He explores the role of religion in moral behavior, how the moral molecule operates in the marketplace, and - most important, once we understand the moral molecule - how we can consciously use it to make our own lives better.

©2012 Paul J. Zak (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Absolutely Facinating

The title about sums it up. It will change the way you think about love, sex and the way other people treat you.

loved it.

The single most fascinating book I've read in years. Science, psychology, religion, philosophy, morality. This book has it all.

challenged several lifelong beliefs I had

Where does The Moral Molecule rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

middle of the top

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

This book has been so fascinating, covering far more than I expected and it challenged several lifelong beliefs I had. For example, I believed we would have no morality without religion--not that you have to be religious to be moral, but that morality was conceptualized by religion. That is simply not the case. Our DNA is programed for us to act in ways we socially define as "moral" because that is required for species survival. The beginning part about Oxycetocin was also very interesting.

Any additional comments?

Zak has a 24-minute Ted talk (free on Youtube) that covers most of what is in this book and you can use it as a gauge if you want to dive deeper.

too nice?

the most touching non-fiction book I've read, but unfortunately the data on unconditional non-reciprocators and people with psychopathologies is pretty meager, it appears that in interviews the author elaborates on the subject a bit more. also the subject of the "dark side" of oxytocin, which lies at the heart of tribalism wasn't punctuated as well as again in some of the podcasts, but I still don't regret listening to this

Fun science read--but needed professional reader

An enjoyable science read. Just enough science to be intellectual, just enough anecdotal human interest to be fun. The basics are that oxytocin, the cuddle hormone, makes for pro-social behavior. The author examines what behavior releases oxytocin and how it effects behavior after it is released. In addition, he comments on how it interacts with testosterone, a rather anti-social hormone, and cortisol, the stress hormone. The author closes with how we can create a more oxytocin-filled, trusting, and happier world one oxytocin-inducing act after another. If you like a good pop-science read, you'll enjoy The Moral Molecule by Paul J. Zak. However, the author read the book himself and he is no professional reader. It's rather like if your not-so-into-reading-aloud spouse read the book to you. Rhythms are off, emphasis is little. It's just not pro-level, even for an author. For the sake of the enjoyable information, you can get through it, but they really should have hired a profession reader to showcase the information to best effect.

I learned a lot about oxytocin and the best way to live

The science informed insights and factual revelations about oxytocin and it’s role within the human and in human communities caused me to deepen my commitment to connection producing behaviors.

A Codicil Is Necessary...

Even though I am giving this book four stars, there has to be a qualification. There has, in fact, been a lot of research done lately about the "hard-wired" facet of morality and moral behavior and its evolution in the human brain: everything from the frontal orbital cortex to mirroring cells to the insular cortex--to oxytocin. Oxytocin is a neurohypophysial hormone that is always present in our brains but which is released in larger doses during birth and breastfeeding in women and after orgasm in both sexes. Physical contact, positive group dynamics, a warm personal interaction--all contribute to the release of oxytocin--and oxytocin (often oversimplified--as Zak is wont--as "the cuddle hormone) makes us want more of these interactions. Thus the thinking goes, and mostly rightly, that oxytocin is part of the system that helps us to get along and behave in a more or less civil way to one another. Now the qualification: while all of what Zak proclaims is true, he does leave out some important aspects of oxytocin, that is to say, its darker side: like, for instance, that it can also be traced to things like individual and group favoritism and prejudice (feelings of warmth toward the people closest to you and who look and act like you can make others seem more distant and strange, if even on the subconscious level); thus, one could implicate it in some of the less wonderful events in human history. Zak likes to go around squirting oxytocin up people's noses,noting the warm and fuzzies they get from it and then singing its praises on lecture tours--and yes, its functions are interesting and study of what is does is important, but in the interest of science, do a bit more reading beyond this book to get the full picture on this complex, but not magic or mystical (and not by itself "moral") hormone.

Interesting, well researched

Paul Zak makes a strong case for the importance of oxytocin in every facet of human life. Well worth the read for anyone who work is to communicate.

Zak explains the use of a lot of research. Not really entertaining

I was recommended this working on a Masters degree in a science related field.
Mostly about oxytocin and what it does to the brain. Alot of research on mice and other animals. The author had the oleaito experiment on himself in the safety of a hospital, since they are married to a neurologist. I was a bit exhausted and not engaged with the social science and psychology of the book. Seemed like well documented reports over years. This can just be journal articles or a blog, because I don't see much replay value.