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 vii
... Reasons 91 PART II Hidden Motives in Everyday Life 7 Body Language 111 8 Laughter 129 9 Conversation 149 10 Consumption 169 11 Art 187 12 Charity 205 13 Education 225 14 Medicine 241 15 Religion 261 16 Politics 283 17 Conclusion 303 ...
... Reasons 91 PART II Hidden Motives in Everyday Life 7 Body Language 111 8 Laughter 129 9 Conversation 149 10 Consumption 169 11 Art 187 12 Charity 205 13 Education 225 14 Medicine 241 15 Religion 261 16 Politics 283 17 Conclusion 303 ...
الصفحة 4
... reason that we'd be hyper - conscious of our deepest biological incentives ? And yet , most of the time , we seem almost willfully unaware of them . It's not that we're literally incapable of perceiving these motives within our psyches ...
... reason that we'd be hyper - conscious of our deepest biological incentives ? And yet , most of the time , we seem almost willfully unaware of them . It's not that we're literally incapable of perceiving these motives within our psyches ...
الصفحة 6
... reasons . " We should often blush at our noblest deeds , " wrote François de La Rochefoucauld in the 17th century , " if the world were to see all their underlying motives . " 3 Sigmund Freud , of course , was a major champion of hidden ...
... reasons . " We should often blush at our noblest deeds , " wrote François de La Rochefoucauld in the 17th century , " if the world were to see all their underlying motives . " 3 Sigmund Freud , of course , was a major champion of hidden ...
الصفحة 13
... unselfish in front of others; it helps us look better than we really are. Confronting our delusions must therefore (at least in part) undermine their very reason for existing . There's a very real sense in which INTRODUCTION 13.
... unselfish in front of others; it helps us look better than we really are. Confronting our delusions must therefore (at least in part) undermine their very reason for existing . There's a very real sense in which INTRODUCTION 13.
الصفحة 28
... reason to believe the keys are elsewhere , we need to take a deep breath , roll up our sleeves , and start looking under the harsh light of competition . PARABLE OF THE REDWOODS Kevin's native California is home to the world's tallest ...
... reason to believe the keys are elsewhere , we need to take a deep breath , roll up our sleeves , and start looking under the harsh light of competition . PARABLE OF THE REDWOODS Kevin's native California is home to the world's tallest ...
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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