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
... Consumption 169 11 Art 187 12 Charity 205 13 Education 225 14 Medicine 241 15 Religion 261 16 Politics 283 17 Conclusion 303 Notes 315 References 353 Index 385 PREFACE Although Robin has blogged on related topics for over Contents.
... Consumption 169 11 Art 187 12 Charity 205 13 Education 225 14 Medicine 241 15 Religion 261 16 Politics 283 17 Conclusion 303 Notes 315 References 353 Index 385 PREFACE Although Robin has blogged on related topics for over Contents.
الصفحة 1
... medicine— doctor visits, drugs, diagnostic tests, and so forth— well beyond what's useful for staying healthy. Large randomized studies, for example, find that people given free healthcare consume a lot more medicine (relative to an ...
... medicine— doctor visits, drugs, diagnostic tests, and so forth— well beyond what's useful for staying healthy. Large randomized studies, for example, find that people given free healthcare consume a lot more medicine (relative to an ...
الصفحة 2
... medicine is strictly about health. To explain these and other puzzles, Robin took an approach unusual among health policy experts. He suggested that people might have other motives for buying medicine— motives beyond simply getting ...
... medicine is strictly about health. To explain these and other puzzles, Robin took an approach unusual among health policy experts. He suggested that people might have other motives for buying medicine— motives beyond simply getting ...
الصفحة 3
... medicine than they need strictly for their health. The conclusion is that medicine isn't just about health— it's also an exercise in conspicuous caring. Now, we don't expect our readers to believe this explanation just yet. We'll ...
... medicine than they need strictly for their health. The conclusion is that medicine isn't just about health— it's also an exercise in conspicuous caring. Now, we don't expect our readers to believe this explanation just yet. We'll ...
الصفحة 4
... medicine, showing conspicuous care. And yet we all instinctively act this way. In fact, we're able to act quite skillfully and strategically, pursuing our self- interest without explicitly acknowledging it, even to ourselves. But this ...
... medicine, showing conspicuous care. And yet we all instinctively act this way. In fact, we're able to act quite skillfully and strategically, pursuing our self- interest without explicitly acknowledging it, even to ourselves. But this ...
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