A review by inquiry_from_an_anti_library
The Elephant in the Brain: Hidden Motives in Everyday Life by Kevin Simler, Robin Hanson

adventurous emotional informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

Is This An Overview?

While socially taboo topics, issues, and behaviors are elephants in the room.  The elephant in the brain is an introspective taboo.  The way the brain processes information is not something people want to think about, or are aware of.  What the brain does, is enable the pursuit of self-interest, without acknowledging the self-interested motivation. 

 

Humans are designed for hidden selfish motives, while appearing to be selfless to others.  People rationalize their behavior as being more socially acceptable, than the behavior actually is.  To better hide the selfish motives, people undergo self-deception.  Self-deception is a strategic act for improving the effectiveness of deceiving others. 

 

For social support, to gain the approval of others, people show conspicuous behavior.  A lot of wealth, resources, and effort is used for intra-group competitive signaling.  Resources used to show off rather than for useful purposes.  Although the resources are wasted, the institutions have enabled people to cooperate.  Enabled methods of interacting that improve society, not just the person. 

 

Caveats?

As the authors acknowledge, there are a variety of reasons for why people behave the way they do, not just because of hidden selfishness.  Most of the book is filled with examples of when more resources are spent on an activity than is useful, finding how people act selfishly while not appearing as being selfish.  Although the examples are diverse, the explanations can become repetitive, and interest in the examples depend on the reader.