This book review was written by Eugene Kernes
“Here is the thesis we’ll be
exploring in this book: We, human beings, are a species that’s not only capable
of acting on hidden motives – we’re designed to do it. Our brains are built to act in our
self-interest while at the same time trying hard not to appear selfish in front
of other people. And in order to throw
them off the trail, our brains often keep “us,” our conscious minds, in the
dark. The less we know of our own ugly
motives, the easier it is to hid them from others.” – Kevin Simler, and
Robin Hanson, Introduction, Page 19
“Coalitions are what makes politics so political. Without the ability to form teams and work
together toward shared goals, a species’ “political” life will be stunted at
the level of individual competition – every chicken for itself, pecking at
every other chicken. But add just a dash
of cooperation to the mix, and suddenly a species’ political life begins
to bloom.” – Kevin Simler, and Robin Hanson, Chapter 2: Competition, Page 47
“Among laypeople, gossip gets a pretty bad rap. But anthropologists see it differently. Gossip – talking about people behind their
backs, often focusing on their flaws or misdeeds – is a feature of every
society ever studied. And while it can
often be mean-spirited and hurtful, gossip is also an important process for
curtailing bad behavior, especially among powerful people.” – Kevin Simler, and
Robin Hanson, Chapter 3: Norms, Page 63
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.
