Groups create supernatural beings not to explain the universe but to order their societies. Jonathan Haidt More Quotes by Jonathan Haidt More Quotes From Jonathan Haidt Reciprocity is a deep instinct; it is the basic currency of social life. Jonathan Haidt currencyinstinctsocial Some comedians really are funnier than others. Some people really are more beautiful than others. But these are true only because of the kinds of creatures we happen to be; the perceptual apparatus - apparati - that we happen to have. Jonathan Haidt comedianbeautifulpeople Individuals who could not form cooperative alliances, on average, died sooner and left fewer children. And so we are the descendants of the successful cooperators. Jonathan Haidt successfulaveragechildren Dividing into teams doesn't necessarily mean denigrating others. Studies of groupishness have generally found that groups increase in-group love far more than they increase out-group hostility. Jonathan Haidt groupsteammean If I have a mission in life, it is to convince people that everyone is morally motivated - everyone except for psychopaths. Jonathan Haidt psychopathmotivatedpeople Once you understand the power of stimulus control, you can use it to your advantage by changing the stimuli in your environment and avoiding undesirable ones; or, if that's not possible, by filling your consciousness with thoughts about their less tempting aspects. Jonathan Haidt environmentconsciousnessuse Morality binds people into groups. It gives us tribalism, it gives us genocide, war, and politics. But it also gives us heroism, altruism, and sainthood. Jonathan Haidt givingwarpeople While it is useful to rebut charges and get your arguments out in circulation, you have to understand that arguments and evidence have little impact on people as long as their feelings tilt them against you. Jonathan Haidt impactlongpeople Good relationships make people happy, and happy people enjoy more and better relationships than unhappy people.... Conflicts in relationships--having an annoying office mate or roommate, or having chronic conflict with your spouse--is one of the surest ways to reduce your happiness. You never adapt to interpersonal conflict; it damages every day, even days when you don't see the other person but ruminate about the conflict nonetheless. Jonathan Haidt good-relationshiphappinesspeople Many species reciprocate, but only humans gossip, and much of what we gossip about is the vale of other people as partners for reciprocal relationships. Jonathan Haidt gossippartnerspeople People can believe pretty much whatever they want to believe about moral and political issues, as long as some other people near them believe it, so you have to focus on indirect methods to change what people want to believe. Jonathan Haidt issueslongbelieve Love and work are crucial for human happiness because, when done well, they draw us out of ourselves and into connection with people and projects beyond ourselves. Happiness comes from getting these connections right. Jonathan Haidt connectionsdonepeople When you hear someone criticize a policy on the other side, thats fine. But when you start hearing motive-mongering and demonization, stand up to it just as you would if it were something that was racist or sexist. If we avoid the demonization, disagreements can be positive. Jonathan Haidt being-positivehearingracist We can call this "the progress principle": Pleasure comes more from making progress toward goals than from achieving them. Shakespeare captured it perfectly: "Things won are done; joy's soul lies in the doing." Jonathan Haidt goaljoylying The psychological origins of love are in attachment to parents and sexual partners. We do not attach to ourselves; we do not seek security and fulfillment in ourselves. Jonathan Haidt psychologicalattachmentparent The word religion literally means, in Latin, to link or bind together; and despite the vast variation in the world's religions, Wilson shows that religions always serve to coordinate and orient people's behavior toward each other and toward the group as a whole, sometimes for the purpose of competing with other groups. Jonathan Haidt latinmeanpeople The consistent finding of psychological research is that we are fairly accurate in our perceptions of others. It's our self-perceptions that are distorted because we look at ourselves in a rose-colored mirror. Jonathan Haidt mirrorsselfrose The extreme self-sacrifice characteristic of group-selected species such as ants and bees can often be found among soldiers. Jonathan Haidt often-issacrificeself If you get something for nothing, part of you may be pleased, but part of you moves your hand to give something back. Jonathan Haidt givinghandsmoving Religion and science, for example, are often though to be opponents, but as I have shown, the insights of ancient religions and of modern science are both needed to reach a full understanding of human nature and the conditions of human satisfaction. The ancients may have known little about biology, chemistry, physics, but many were good psychologists. Jonathan Haidt understandingexamplemay
