The Elephant in the Brain
Hidden Motives in Everyday Life
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The Elephant in the Brain
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Narrated by:
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Jeffrey Kafer
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Written by:
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Kevin Simler
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Robin Hanson
About this listen
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 TantorWhat listeners say about The Elephant in the Brain
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Sumit Natu
- 22-07-24
New depth of knowing self, society, species
I will do a rerun of this book to better understand the concepts, but overall it helped in deepening the knowledge about most important things that matter!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- P N RAMASWAMI
- 04-01-23
Very good book
Don’t miss this book if you come across. If not search for it to read. You will be greatly rewarded
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ricky
- 05-05-23
Informative
Found the book very informative. Helps The reader make sense of why humans behave the way they do.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Arunse
- 04-05-24
good concepts
really liked the concept and it has a lot of profound meaning. however it can be a bit slow and the way the audio is it can at times be a bit disengaging as compared to some of the other books purely because of the way the audio attracts and enagges you
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- RM
- 18-06-19
mostly obvious but has sparks of brilliance
To start with, there are no index of chapter names in the audible version. There are just chapter numbers.
The book starts off well but then over the second half converts to a bag of obvious examples. I agree with around 70% of the thoughts of the authors and am neutral to the remaining. The two chapters laughter and language keeps stating the obvious and had to be forwarded.
The authors drop in big words to describe mundane human characteristics esp in the laughter and language chapters.
I disagree with the authors on the chapter on religion, where they are trying to rationalise religion.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- vichitra jain
- 23-01-24
Helpful
This books answers some of the questions which we think about but most probably couldn't ask or discuss with our peers, parents or partners.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Gaurav Mapara
- 17-09-24
Masterpiece to rational reality
Must listen for someone who is seeking to live a honest life with indepth understanding of the all "WHY?s" of life. specifically good for people going to emotional therapy about whatever they have been through.
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