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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... ourselves in order to deceive others . " -Ramez Naam , author of Nexus " A provocative and compellingly readable account of how and why we lie to our rivals , our friends , and ourselves . " -Steven Landsburg , Professor of Economics ...
... ourselves in order to deceive others . " -Ramez Naam , author of Nexus " A provocative and compellingly readable account of how and why we lie to our rivals , our friends , and ourselves . " -Steven Landsburg , Professor of Economics ...
الصفحة 4
... 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 ani- mals , with all the instincts you'd expect from such creatures . And con ...
... 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 ani- mals , with all the instincts you'd expect from such creatures . And con ...
الصفحة 5
... ourselves to look in its direction ( see Figure 1 ) . But generally , we prefer to ignore the elephant , and as a result , we systematically give short shrift to explanations of our behavior that call attention to it . Box 1 : “ The ...
... ourselves to look in its direction ( see Figure 1 ) . But generally , we prefer to ignore the elephant , and as a result , we systematically give short shrift to explanations of our behavior that call attention to it . Box 1 : “ The ...
الصفحة 8
... ourselves " : 1. Microsociology . When we study how people interact with each other on the small scale - in real time and face to face - we quickly learn to appreciate the depth and complexity of our social behaviors and how little we ...
... ourselves " : 1. Microsociology . When we study how people interact with each other on the small scale - in real time and face to face - we quickly learn to appreciate the depth and complexity of our social behaviors and how little we ...
الصفحة 9
... 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 pri- mate groups , we notice a lot of ...
... 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 pri- mate groups , we notice a lot of ...
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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