a book

The Elephant in the Brain

Name: The Elephant in the Brain
Rating: 5 (13 reviews)
Author: Robin Hanson and Kevin Simler
ISBN: 9781541446212

Robin Hanson and Kevin Simler · 2017 · 397 pages

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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recommended by 13 people

sourced from public statements

Naval Ravikant
“Most Intolerant Minority, Skin in the Game, Elephant in the Brain, cross-generational hedonic adaptation, and broad funnels + tight filters. That was this week. I can’t remember last month.”↗
Chris Williamson
“Why do you do the things you do? You think you know, but the genuine reasons might actually be a little different. Human self-deception runs deep and causes us to act in ways we can rationalise, but why do we actually act in that way? Robin strategically breaks down the underlying signals that hide in many of the things we do every day. Once you understand signalling, you’ll see it everywhere. Non-Fiction 17”↗
Joe Gadway
“The Elephant in the Brain: Hidden Motives in Everyday Life This looks like an interesting book, about why we REALLY do things.”↗
Auren Hoffman
“just finished "The Elephant in the Brain" by @robinhanson -- such a fantastic book -- highly recommend”↗
Vitalik Buterin
“"My new conversation starter is "So I recently read Hanson and Simler's _The Elephant in the Brain_, and that book had a lot of interesting insights, for example how conversations aren't really about trading information, but are actually more about showing off how smart you are"."”↗
Matthew Kobach
“Five book recommendations: 1. Atomic Habits (by @JamesClear) 2. Alchemy (by @rorysutherland) 3. Junior (by @tkemeny) 4. How Brands Grow (by @ProfByron) 5. Elephant in the Brain (by @KevinSimler & @robinhanson)”↗
Diana Fleischman
“I recommend these books that touch on evolutionary psychology and morality, Why Everyone Else is a Hypocrite and The Elephant in the Brain.”↗
Nat Eliason
Ali Abdaal
Scott Young
David Perell
Emmett Shear
Julian Shapiro