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 2
... interest in digging beneath the surface— for example, by getting second opinions or asking for outcome statistics from their doctors or hospitals. (One astonishing study found that only 8 percent of patients about to undergo a dangerous ...
... interest in digging beneath the surface— for example, by getting second opinions or asking for outcome statistics from their doctors or hospitals. (One astonishing study found that only 8 percent of patients about to undergo a dangerous ...
الصفحة 4
... interest without explicitly acknowledging it, even to ourselves. But this is odd. Why should we be less than fully conscious of such important motives? Biology teaches us that we're competitive social animals, with all the instincts you ...
... interest without explicitly acknowledging it, even to ourselves. But this is odd. Why should we be less than fully conscious of such important motives? Biology teaches us that we're competitive social animals, with all the instincts you ...
الصفحة 9
... interests without having to reveal ourselves as the self- interested schemers we often are. 3. Primatology. Humans are primates, specifically apes. Human nature is therefore a modified form of ape nature. And when we study primate ...
... interests without having to reveal ourselves as the self- interested schemers we often are. 3. Primatology. Humans are primates, specifically apes. Human nature is therefore a modified form of ape nature. And when we study primate ...
الصفحة 10
... interest groups are eager to call them out for it. For example, when U.S. bankers angled for a bailout during the 2008 financial crisis, they argued that it would benefit the entire economy, conveniently neglecting to mention that it ...
... interest groups are eager to call them out for it. For example, when U.S. bankers angled for a bailout during the 2008 financial crisis, they argued that it would benefit the entire economy, conveniently neglecting to mention that it ...
الصفحة 11
... . And one of the important things they're judging is our motives. Why do we behave the way we do? Do we have others' best interests at heart, or are we entirely selfish? 2. Because others are judging us, we're eager to look INTRODUCTION 11.
... . And one of the important things they're judging is our motives. Why do we behave the way we do? Do we have others' best interests at heart, or are we entirely selfish? 2. Because others are judging us, we're eager to look INTRODUCTION 11.
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