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  • The Righteous Mind

  • Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion
  • By: Jonathan Haidt
  • Narrated by: Jonathan Haidt
  • Length: 11 hrs and 1 min
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (1,514 ratings)
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The Righteous Mind

By: Jonathan Haidt
Narrated by: Jonathan Haidt
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Summary

Why can’t our political leaders work together as threats loom and problems mount? Why do people so readily assume the worst about the motives of their fellow citizens?

In The Righteous Mind, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt explores the origins of our divisions and points the way forward to mutual understanding. His starting point is moral intuition - the nearly instantaneous perceptions we all have about other people and the things they do. These intuitions feel like self-evident truths, making us righteously certain that those who see things differently are wrong.

Haidt shows us how these intuitions differ across cultures, including the cultures of the political left and right. He blends his own research findings with those of anthropologists, historians, and other psychologists to draw a map of the moral domain, and he explains why conservatives can navigate that map more skillfully than can liberals. He then examines the origins of morality, overturning the view that evolution made us fundamentally selfish creatures.

But rather than arguing that we are innately altruistic, he makes a more subtle claim - that we are fundamentally groupish. It is our groupishness, he explains, that leads to our greatest joys, our religious divisions, and our political affiliations. In a stunning final chapter on ideology and civility, Haidt shows what each side is right about, and why we need the insights of liberals, conservatives, and libertarians to flourish as a nation.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

©2012 Jonathan Haidt (P)2012 Gildan Media LLC

Critic reviews

"Haidt is looking for more than victory. He's looking for wisdom. That's what makes The Righteous Mind well worth reading…. a landmark contribution to humanity’s understanding of itself.” ( The New York Times Book Review)

What listeners say about The Righteous Mind

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fascinating book. arguments well constructed

I loved this book. it was as fascinating. Good level of detail in the evidence supporting the arguements. The pace at which the arguements were built up was ideal.

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a must read

A must read for all to understand why society is more divisive than ever and how to debate constructively.

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Fascinating, slightly annoying narration

The content of this is really interesting and definitely prompts thought, but unfortunately Haidts narration is too distracting. It's a shame as I've heard him interviewed multiple times and he's always very natural and articulate, but his reading voice is quite grating.

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Interesting insight in moral psychology

I found myself agreeing with Haidt on many points, as well as disagreeing with at least as many.

As first, I was troubled with his view (yeah I just got to finish Dawkins' Selfish Gene) that human evolution happened with group evolution as well as individual level. I noticed him misunderstanding some concepts of Dawkins' theory, which I think would have put him looking on to selfish gene direction. I believe that Dawkins explained much better (at least his in the Selfish Gene 30th anniversary edition) against Haidt's points, and basically overruled them.

Another thing is that I found him "praising" the conservative narrative a bit too much, without offering it any speculation, which I think such theories, or studies, need. I noticed myself agreeing on many points he made on the conservatism (haven't read the research material though), but didn't give any spotlight for world's need for - let's say globalization, or unity, even they, at least in my mind, are the next steps for "humanity as whole". I do though understand that human mind, might not be yet now ready for unity.

It was really pleasant book, and enjoyed it, it offering many points that I had thought about religion, values and the things that I hadn't thought, which I found was brought to you quite well argumented and in easy to approach seminar style performance.
I would suggest this book to anyone who is interested in society, religion, human social behaviour and morality, just you have to read it critically, like always, reading non-fiction books.

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Essential, critical reading.

Whether activist, teacher, student or CEO you need to read this if you want to fully appreciate the reason why current western society has the political fracturing it does today. There is a pdf download for the graphs but I bought the hardback because this book is a critical text in psychology and anthropology afaics. I adjusted the playback speed to 95% and ensured I was giving full attention at all times. A fantastic educational experience.

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left or right, learn how the other thinks.

A very interesting and wide reaching book that leads one to reevaluate everything. Brilliant, Objective, Accessible, and Astonishing.

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Bees, elephants and tongues

Thought-provoking stuff with powerful visual metaphors that make a lot of sense. I don't think it'll change your underlying morals, but it might give you some tools to help better understand (and even value) the morals of others.

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Superb! My Elephant and rider both agree!

I'm so glad I found Mr Haidt. This is the most compelling argument I have yet come across for the reasons we think the way we do and why the left and right need each other.

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Very interesting look at the way we see others

This had a lot of confirmation bias for me personally, confirming a lot of ideas I suspected to be true but having no real evidence.

This book explores the psychology and biology of how were perceive other groups and why we sometimes compete with such viciousness. It uses clear metaphors to explore the ideas proposed and is successfully critical of both liberalism and conservatism though in different and important ways.

The author was a fantastic choice to deliver his own work. Anybody with an interest in religion, politics, psychology and the way our society develops should try this.

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Recommending this to everyone with-whom I argue

An excellent insight into why people have moral inclinations and what we might not have considered about our opponents.

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