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. |
من داخل الكتاب
النتائج 1-5 من 54
الصفحة 3
... feel for the 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 ...
... feel for the 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 ...
الصفحة 10
... giously wasteful. Under the feel- good veneer of win- win cooperation— teaching kids, healing the sick, celebrating creativity— our institutions harbor giant , silent furnaces of intra - group competitive 10 Introduction.
... giously wasteful. Under the feel- good veneer of win- win cooperation— teaching kids, healing the sick, celebrating creativity— our institutions harbor giant , silent furnaces of intra - group competitive 10 Introduction.
الصفحة 13
... feel- good motives, for example, people naturally want to share it, perhaps even shout it from the rooftops: “By working together, we can achieve great things!” It reflects well on both speakers and listeners to be associated with ...
... feel- good motives, for example, people naturally want to share it, perhaps even shout it from the rooftops: “By working together, we can achieve great things!” It reflects well on both speakers and listeners to be associated with ...
الصفحة 14
... , then Kevin and Robin would be dead cats . We just can't resist an offer like this . We choose the red pill , and hope that you , dear reader , feel likewise . PART I Why We Hide Our Motives 1 Animal Behavior 14 Introduction.
... , then Kevin and Robin would be dead cats . We just can't resist an offer like this . We choose the red pill , and hope that you , dear reader , feel likewise . PART I Why We Hide Our Motives 1 Animal Behavior 14 Introduction.
الصفحة 20
... feel good when they groom each other , without necessarily understanding why they feel good . 15 It's also important to note that there's still some role for hygiene in explaining why primates groom each other . If hygiene were ...
... feel good when they groom each other , without necessarily understanding why they feel good . 15 It's also important to note that there's still some role for hygiene in explaining why primates groom each other . If hygiene were ...
طبعات أخرى - عرض جميع المقتطفات
عبارات ومصطلحات مألوفة
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