Sharing what I have learned from what I have read: A blog by Joe Abittan
Daniel Kahneman opens his book on cognitive biases, thinking errors, and observed processes within the field of cognitive psychology in an interesting place. Thinking Fast and Slow begins with Kahneman praising gossip, and explaining his hope for the readers of his book. He does not hope that readers of his book will avoid gossip and … Continue reading Kahneman’s Hope
Humans are gossip machines. We like to talk about and think about other people, especially the negative traits and qualities of others. At the same time, we are self-deception machines. We downplay our own faults, spend little time thinking about our mistakes, and deny any negative quality about ourselves. Even when we are the only … Continue reading Gossip Machines
An argument I found very persuasive in The Elephant in the Brain by Kevin Simler and Robin Hanson is that religions establish norms for sexual behavior in an attempt to help create social cohesion partly through systems of shared sexual family beliefs and values that build into family beliefs and values. The norms around sex ensure … Continue reading Sex, Society, & Religion
"All else being equal, we prefer to think that we're buying a product because it's something we want for ourselves, not because we're trying to manage our image or manipulate the impressions of our friends. We want to be cool, but we'd rather be seen as naturally, effortlessly cool, rather than someone who's trying too … Continue reading Effortlessly Cool
What inputs drive what types of behaviors in humans? This is a question I think about at an incredibly basic level all the time, but I don't really hear much insightful discussion about this topic. We all like to believe we (and everyone else) is in complete conscious control of our thoughts, minds, and decisions, … Continue reading How To Describe a Norm
In my previous post I wrote about wasteful competition that occurs between animals within the same species, including us humans. To try to be impressive, we do a lot of things that are relatively wasteful. We might spend hours and hours focusing on developing a single skill, some animals will spend lots of time building … Continue reading Norms and Productive Coordination
How do norms shape our behaviors? As social animals we rely on a good reputation which helps us gain allies, build coalitions, and have close bonds between family and friends. A good reputation increases trust, convinces others that they should invest in our friendship, and tells the social group give us a hand every now … Continue reading Reputation
Kevin Simler and Robin Hanson have an interesting idea about gossip in their book The Elephant in the Brain. Instead of seeing gossip as some terrible moral failure on the part of human beings, the authors take a more deep and close look at gossip to try to understand just what is taking place. By … Continue reading The Role of Gossip
What inputs drive what types of behaviors in humans? This is a question I think about at an incredibly basic level all the time, but that I don't really hear much insightful discussion about in general. We all like to believe we (and everyone else) is in complete conscious control of our thoughts, minds, and … Continue reading How to Describe a Norm