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 18
... similar preening behaviors.5 • Even more puzzling is the fact that primates spend a lot more time grooming each other than they spend grooming themselves.6 If the only purpose of grooming were hygiene, we'd expect to see more ...
... similar preening behaviors.5 • Even more puzzling is the fact that primates spend a lot more time grooming each other than they spend grooming themselves.6 If the only purpose of grooming were hygiene, we'd expect to see more ...
الصفحة 20
... similar to a human showering four times a day.) Only politics explains why the geladas spend those additional, seemingly unnecessary 90 minutes. COMPETITIVE ALTRUISM Before we move on to human behavior, here is one more quick example ...
... similar to a human showering four times a day.) Only politics explains why the geladas spend those additional, seemingly unnecessary 90 minutes. COMPETITIVE ALTRUISM Before we move on to human behavior, here is one more quick example ...
الصفحة 21
... Similar jockeying takes place for the “privilege” of performing other altruistic behaviors. If the goal of these behaviors is to be helpful, why do the babblers waste effort competing to perform them? One hypothesis is that higher ...
... Similar jockeying takes place for the “privilege” of performing other altruistic behaviors. If the goal of these behaviors is to be helpful, why do the babblers waste effort competing to perform them? One hypothesis is that higher ...
الصفحة 33
... similar to the kind found in high schools around the world (only perhaps not quite as vapid). We earn prestige not just by being rich, beautiful, and good at sports, but also by being funny, artistic, smart, well- spoken, charming, and ...
... similar to the kind found in high schools around the world (only perhaps not quite as vapid). We earn prestige not just by being rich, beautiful, and good at sports, but also by being funny, artistic, smart, well- spoken, charming, and ...
الصفحة 34
... similar (and highly limited) supply of friendship to offer to others, but the demand for our friendship varies greatly from person to person. Highly prestigious individuals have many claims on their time and attention, many would- be ...
... similar (and highly limited) supply of friendship to offer to others, but the demand for our friendship varies greatly from person to person. Highly prestigious individuals have many claims on their time and attention, many would- be ...
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