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 6-10 من 84
الصفحة 22
... example, may take all the mating opportunities for himself. But if the beta has earned high prestige, the alpha will occasionally allow him to mate with some of the females.17 In this way, the alpha effectively “bribes” the beta to ...
... example, may take all the mating opportunities for himself. But if the beta has earned high prestige, the alpha will occasionally allow him to mate with some of the females.17 In this way, the alpha effectively “bribes” the beta to ...
الصفحة 23
... example, both animals are struggling frantically to decipher the other's intentions.18 And thus there can be an incentive for each party to deceive the other, which may be facilitated by a bit of self- deception. Just as camouflage is ...
... example, both animals are struggling frantically to decipher the other's intentions.18 And thus there can be an incentive for each party to deceive the other, which may be facilitated by a bit of self- deception. Just as camouflage is ...
الصفحة 27
... example, as in games and sports. “There are no losers in wrestling,” it's sometimes said, “only winners and learners.” We also endorse competition in service of broader cooperative activities from which we all stand to gain, like when ...
... example, as in games and sports. “There are no losers in wrestling,” it's sometimes said, “only winners and learners.” We also endorse competition in service of broader cooperative activities from which we all stand to gain, like when ...
الصفحة 32
لقد وصلت إلى حد العرض المسموح لهذا الكتاب.
لقد وصلت إلى حد العرض المسموح لهذا الكتاب.
الصفحة 33
لقد وصلت إلى حد العرض المسموح لهذا الكتاب.
لقد وصلت إلى حد العرض المسموح لهذا الكتاب.
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