The Elephant in the Brain: Hidden Motives in Everyday LifeHuman 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
الصفحة x
apparent effect, we suspect that human minds and cultures must contain sufficient antibodies to keep such concepts at bay. Of course, no work like this comes together without a community of support. We're grateful for the advice, ...
apparent effect, we suspect that human minds and cultures must contain sufficient antibodies to keep such concepts at bay. Of course, no work like this comes together without a community of support. We're grateful for the advice, ...
الصفحة 4
Of course office workers, being primates, are constantly jockeying to keep or improve their position in the hierarchy, whether by dominance displays, squabbles over territory, or active confrontations. None of these behaviors is ...
Of course office workers, being primates, are constantly jockeying to keep or improve their position in the hierarchy, whether by dominance displays, squabbles over territory, or active confrontations. None of these behaviors is ...
الصفحة 5
And in order to throw them off the trail, our brains often keep “us,” our conscious minds, in the dark. The less we know of our own ugly motives, the easier it is to hide them from others. Self- deception is therefore strategic, ...
And in order to throw them off the trail, our brains often keep “us,” our conscious minds, in the dark. The less we know of our own ugly motives, the easier it is to hide them from others. Self- deception is therefore strategic, ...
الصفحة 6
He posited a whole suite of them, along with various mechanisms for keeping them unconscious. But although the explanations in this book. Figure 1. The Elephant in the Brain. 6 Introduction.
He posited a whole suite of them, along with various mechanisms for keeping them unconscious. But although the explanations in this book. Figure 1. The Elephant in the Brain. 6 Introduction.
الصفحة 7
keeping them unconscious. ... Our brains are experts at flirting, negotiating social status, and playing politics, while “we”— the self- conscious parts of the brain— manage to keep our thoughts pure and chaste.
keeping them unconscious. ... Our brains are experts at flirting, negotiating social status, and playing politics, while “we”— the self- conscious parts of the brain— manage to keep our thoughts pure and chaste.
ما يقوله الناس - كتابة مراجعة
لا تتحقّق Google من المراجعات، ولكنها تتحقّق من المحتوى المزيّف وتزيله في حال رصده.
LibraryThing Review
معاينة المستخدمين - Paul_S - LibraryThingThere is nothing surprising or even taboo in this book. What sheltered lives do the authors lead? This is one step above a bloke in a pub. An interesting, articulate guy but still not any kind of expert in the field. Scholarly paper - this is not. قراءة التقييم بأكمله
LibraryThing Review
معاينة المستخدمين - Tytania - LibraryThingI really didn't learn anything. We are primates who seek to elevate our status. Almost anything we do can be viewed in this light, if you squint hard enough. This really didn't add any "a-ha" moments ... قراءة التقييم بأكمله
طبعات أخرى - عرض جميع المقتطفات
عبارات ومصطلحات مألوفة
activities actually advertise animal asked become behavior beliefs benefit better body brains Chapter charity competition consider conspicuous consumers conversation cost course deception don’t donate effect entirely especially example expect experience explain face fact feel friends function getting give given going hand happen hard human important impressive individual interest it’s keep kind language laugh laughter least less listeners live look loyalty male mates means medicine minds motives natural norms ourselves parties patients percent person play political prefer Press question reasons religion religious result sense signal similar simply social someone speaking spend status subjects talk there’s they’re things tion turn typically understand voting we’re what’s
معلومات المراجع
| العنوان | The Elephant in the Brain: Hidden Motives in Everyday Life |
| المؤلفون | Kevin Simler, Robin Hanson |
| الإصدار | معاد طباعته |
| الناشر | Oxford University Press, 2017 |
| رقم ISBN (الرقم الدولي المعياري للكتاب) | 0190496010, 9780190496012 |
| عدد الصفحات | 288 من الصفحات |
| تصدير الاقتباس | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |