The Elephant in the Brain

The Elephant in the Brain
Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Total Pages : 417
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780190495992
ISBN-13 : 0190495995
Rating : 4/5 (92 Downloads)

Book Synopsis The Elephant in the Brain by : Kevin Simler

Download or read book The Elephant in the Brain written by Kevin Simler and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018 with total page 417 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.


The Elephant in the Brain Related Books

The Elephant in the Brain
Language: en
Pages: 417
Authors: Kevin Simler
Categories: Psychology
Type: BOOK - Published: 2018 - Publisher: Oxford University Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

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 so
The Elephant in the Room
Language: en
Pages: 256
Authors: Tommy Tomlinson
Categories: Biography & Autobiography
Type: BOOK - Published: 2020-01-14 - Publisher: Simon & Schuster

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

ONE OF NPR’S BEST BOOKS OF 2019 A “warm and funny and honest…genuinely unputdownable” (Curtis Sittenfeld) memoir chronicling what it’s like to live in
The Age of Em
Language: en
Pages: 522
Authors: Robin Hanson
Categories: Business & Economics
Type: BOOK - Published: 2016 - Publisher: Oxford University Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Robots may one day rule the world, but what is a robot-ruled Earth like? Many think that the first truly smart robots will be brain emulations or "ems." Robin H
Elephant Sense and Sensibility
Language: en
Pages: 148
Authors: Michael Garstang
Categories: Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 2015-02-12 - Publisher: Academic Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Elephant Sense and Sensibility is a comprehensive treatment of the full range of elephant behavior. Beginning with chapters on evolution and the elephant's brai
Phantoms in the Brain
Language: en
Pages: 353
Authors: V. S. Ramachandran
Categories: Medical
Type: BOOK - Published: 1999-08-18 - Publisher: Harper Collins

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Neuroscientist V.S. Ramachandran is internationally renowned for uncovering answers to the deep and quirky questions of human nature that few scientists have da