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1-Page Summary of The Elephant In the Brain
Overview
Our actions do not always align with our reasons for acting. Our motivations are selfish, and we mask them to appear socially acceptable. The human brain has evolved specifically to deceive us into believing that we’re doing things for the right reasons when really they aren’t.
Authors Kevin Simler and Robin Hanson combine four fields of research — micro-sociology, cognitive and social psychology, primatology, and economics — to explore human motives. Each field points to similar conclusions: We don’t know who we are or why we do things.
Why We Hide Our Motives
Although animal behavior is quite complex, human behavior is even more so. For example, primates groom each other for hygiene purposes but also to create trust and alliances that can be used in other situations.
People like to think that intelligence is the result of cooperation, but competition played a bigger role in making us smarter. In reality, we had to compete with each other to survive and thrive.
Sex, social status, and politics are all areas where people compete. Sex is the most competitive of these three areas because it’s about survival. Both men and women try to show off their good genes in order to attract a mate. Social status is important for both men and women because it can get them respect from others; dominance is one way to gain status, which can be obtained by being vicious or prestigious (respectful). Politics also involves competition between individuals or groups; coalitions form when they work together toward a goal that benefits them all.
In order to get along with others, we need to know how they feel about us. We do this by evaluating their actions and words. This can be done in a variety of ways: through our own observations, asking them directly or indirectly about their feelings toward us, or noticing the signs that indicate what they think of us. The same is true for other people when it comes to getting along with us; they evaluate our actions and words in order to decide whether or not to work with us. We want others to like working with us so we use signals (or cues) such as table manners and library etiquette so that everyone gets along peacefully without wasting any energy on conflict.
Norms are enforced by peer pressure. When this fails, people gossip and spread rumors to limit the bad behavior of others. However, one researcher found that if a new norm is created — to punish those who don’t report crimes — then people will be motivated to do so themselves. In the United States for example, it’s against the law not to report a crime you witnessed and therefore everyone has an incentive not only to report crimes but also make sure they are reported by others as well.
Society frowns upon murder, rape, assault, theft and other violent acts. But there are also norms about certain behaviors. For example if you’re friendly with a friend’s spouse it’s OK but if you act on romantic feelings for someone else’s spouse that is not OK.
Social norms are subtle but telling. There is social pressure to conform, but we can use our intelligence and get away with it if we’re clever enough. We can think of a few ways to do this: pretexts, discreet communication, or subtlety. For example, Henry VIII used a pretext to get out of his marriage by saying that the queen wasn’t really a virgin when they got married. Smoke shops sell drug paraphernalia for “smoking tobacco,” which actually refers to smoking marijuana. And hotels ask guests to “consider the environment” when leaving towels in order not to waste money on laundry services.
