The Elephant in the Brain

Hidden Motives in Everyday Life

De: Kevin Simler, Robin Hanson

Narrado por: Jeffrey Kafer

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.

©2018 Kevin Simler and Robin Hanson (P)2018 Tantor

Great book

Helped me understand a little bit more about social norms and the psychology of why we still follow them.

Very interesting.

I asked myself lots of questions while listening to this book about my own motivations. Keeping in line with selfish behavior. The tone and voice of the reader kept my interest and was not monotone like certain audiobooks. Interesting read, difficult book to discuss with others due to people not willing to give this theory a chance. One thing we humans are great at is self delusion.

Entertaining and thought provoking

The social implications outlined are well written and laid out to be easy to underatand and entertaining to think about

potentially life-changing

a great insight into the human mind and motives. it can change the way you look at others but especially yourself.

Interesting but repetitive

It was an interesting read but overall it just felt repetitive. Definitely not a bad book but I feel like it could have been shortened by quite a bit and conveyed the same message. Worth it if you're interested in human social evolution.