The Elephant in the Brain: Hidden Motives in Everyday LifeOxford University Press, 01/12/2017 - 288 من الصفحات Human beings are primates, and primates are political animals. Our brains, therefore, are designed not just to hunt and gather, but also to help us get ahead socially, often via deception and self-deception. But while we may be self-interested schemers, we benefit by pretending otherwise. The less we know about our own ugly motives, the better - and thus we don't like to talk or even think about the extent of our selfishness. This is "the elephant in the brain." Such an introspective taboo makes it hard for us to think clearly about our nature and the explanations for our behavior. The aim of this book, then, is to confront our hidden motives directly - to track down the darker, unexamined corners of our psyches and blast them with floodlights. Then, once everything is clearly visible, we can work to better understand ourselves: Why do we laugh? Why are artists sexy? Why do we brag about travel? Why do we prefer to speak rather than listen? Our unconscious motives drive more than just our private behavior; they also infect our venerated social institutions such as Art, School, Charity, Medicine, Politics, and Religion. In fact, these institutions are in many ways designed to accommodate our hidden motives, to serve covert agendas alongside their "official" ones. The existence of big hidden motives can upend the usual political debates, leading one to question the legitimacy of these social institutions, and of standard policies designed to favor or discourage them. You won't see yourself - or the world - the same after confronting the elephant in the brain. |
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الصفحة 3
... kind of explanation we're proposing . First , we're suggest- ing that key human behaviors are often driven by multiple motives - even behaviors that seem pretty single - minded , like giving and receiving med- ical care . This shouldn't ...
... kind of explanation we're proposing . First , we're suggest- ing that key human behaviors are often driven by multiple motives - even behaviors that seem pretty single - minded , like giving and receiving med- ical care . This shouldn't ...
الصفحة 5
... kind of duplicity . But as long as we continue to tiptoe around it , we'll be unable to think clearly about human behavior . We'll be forced to distort or deny any explanation that harks back to our hidden motives . Key facts will ...
... kind of duplicity . But as long as we continue to tiptoe around it , we'll be unable to think clearly about human behavior . We'll be forced to distort or deny any explanation that harks back to our hidden motives . Key facts will ...
الصفحة 19
... kind of benefit ( rather than simple reciprocity ) . Indeed , grooming partners are more likely to share food , 11 tolerate each other at feeding sites , 12 and support each other during con- frontations with other members of the group ...
... kind of benefit ( rather than simple reciprocity ) . Indeed , grooming partners are more likely to share food , 11 tolerate each other at feeding sites , 12 and support each other during con- frontations with other members of the group ...
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... kind of “credit” among their groupmates— what Zahavi calls prestige status. This earns them at least two different perks, one of which is mating opportunities: Males with greater prestige get to mate more often with the females of the ...
... kind of “credit” among their groupmates— what Zahavi calls prestige status. This earns them at least two different perks, one of which is mating opportunities: Males with greater prestige get to mate more often with the females of the ...
الصفحة 23
... , scientists would often appeal to " the good of the species " in order to explain seemingly altruistic animal behaviors , like the babblers volunteering for guard duty . 19 That's certainly the kind ANIMAL BEHAVIOR 23.
... , scientists would often appeal to " the good of the species " in order to explain seemingly altruistic animal behaviors , like the babblers volunteering for guard duty . 19 That's certainly the kind ANIMAL BEHAVIOR 23.
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actually advertise altruism ancestors animal apparatchik Arabian babbler asked babblers behavior beliefs benefit better body language bowerbird brains Bryan Caplan Chapter charity cheating coalitions competition consider conspicuous conspicuous consumption consumers costs course CRIMESTOP Do-Right donate effect elephant especially evolutionary psychology example explain fact feel forager friends function Geoffrey Miller give going grooming Haidt Hajj hidden motives human Ibid important incentives individual laugh laughter less listeners look loyalty male mates medicine Miller minds norms ourselves patients peers percent person play political Press Secretary prestige primates prosocial puzzles reasons religion religious Robert Trivers Robin Hanson self-deception selfish signal simply social social grooming someone spend split-brain status Steve Jobs there's things tion Trivers typically voters voting we’re what's words Zhao Gao