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 19
... less likely to be groomed in return— so they must be angling for some other kind of benefit (rather than simple reciprocity). Indeed, grooming partners are more likely to share food,11 tolerate each other at feeding sites,12 and support ...
... less likely to be groomed in return— so they must be angling for some other kind of benefit (rather than simple reciprocity). Indeed, grooming partners are more likely to share food,11 tolerate each other at feeding sites,12 and support ...
الصفحة 20
Hidden Motives in Everyday Life Kevin Simler, Robin Hanson. do less. Primates are thereby endowed with instincts that make them feel good when they groom each other, without necessarily understanding why they feel good.15 It's also ...
Hidden Motives in Everyday Life Kevin Simler, Robin Hanson. do less. Primates are thereby endowed with instincts that make them feel good when they groom each other, without necessarily understanding why they feel good.15 It's also ...
الصفحة 22
... less likely to evict him. Here the logic is twofold. First, a prestigious beta has shown himself to be more useful to the group, so the alpha prefers to keep him around. Second, by performing more acts of “altruism,” a babbler ...
... less likely to evict him. Here the logic is twofold. First, a prestigious beta has shown himself to be more useful to the group, so the alpha prefers to keep him around. Second, by performing more acts of “altruism,” a babbler ...
الصفحة 23
... less need to obfuscate the contents of their minds. We'll discuss this more thoroughly in later chapters. But before moving on, there's one last crucial point to make. When we study the behavior of other species, we can't help putting ...
... less need to obfuscate the contents of their minds. We'll discuss this more thoroughly in later chapters. But before moving on, there's one last crucial point to make. When we study the behavior of other species, we can't help putting ...
الصفحة 25
... less time poring over because we don't like how they make us look. In this sense, our problem isn't that the light is too dim, but that it's too harsh. Consider these two broad “lights” where the keys to our 2 Competition.
... less time poring over because we don't like how they make us look. In this sense, our problem isn't that the light is too dim, but that it's too harsh. Consider these two broad “lights” where the keys to our 2 Competition.
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