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The Elephant in the Brain thesis: - Full Book Summary is here - https://wisewords.blog/book-summaries/the-elephant-in-the-brain-book-summary/
1. People are judging us all the time. They want to know whether well make good friends, allies, lovers, or leaders. And one of the important things they're judging is our motives. Why do we behave the way we do? Do we have others' best interests at heart, or are we entirely selfish?
2. Because others are judging us, we're eager to look good. So we emphasize our pretty motives and downplay our ugly ones. It's not lying, exactly, but neither is it perfectly honest.
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 behaviour.
In this book review we discuss the first half of the book that covers social norms, gossip, secrets and much more.
If you're interested in human nature and understanding others, this is for you.
--
If you enjoyed this podcast make sure to check out our other content on our other platforms:
If you enjoyed this podcast make sure to check out our other content on our other platforms:
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The Elephant in the Brain thesis: - Full Book Summary is here - https://wisewords.blog/book-summaries/the-elephant-in-the-brain-book-summary/
1. People are judging us all the time. They want to know whether well make good friends, allies, lovers, or leaders. And one of the important things they're judging is our motives. Why do we behave the way we do? Do we have others' best interests at heart, or are we entirely selfish?
2. Because others are judging us, we're eager to look good. So we emphasize our pretty motives and downplay our ugly ones. It's not lying, exactly, but neither is it perfectly honest.
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 behaviour.
In this book review we discuss the first half of the book that covers social norms, gossip, secrets and much more.
If you're interested in human nature and understanding others, this is for you.
--
If you enjoyed this podcast make sure to check out our other content on our other platforms:
If you enjoyed this podcast make sure to check out our other content on our other platforms:
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