“Surprising and remarkable…Toggling between big ideas; technical details; and his personal intellectual journey; Greene writes a thesis suitable to both airplane reading and PhD seminars.â€â€”The Boston Globe Our brains were designed for tribal life; for getting along with a select group of others (Us) and for fighting off everyone else (Them). But modern times have forced the world’s tribes into a shared space; resulting in epic clashes of values along with unprecedented opportunities. As the world shrinks; the moral lines that divide us become more salient and more puzzling. We fight over everything from tax codes to gay marriage to global warming; and we wonder where; if at all; we can find our common ground. A grand synthesis of neuroscience; psychology; and philosophy; Moral Tribes reveals the underlying causes of modern conflict and lights the way forward. Greene compares the human brain to a dual-mode camera; with point-and-shoot automatic settings (“portrait;†“landscapeâ€) as well as a manual mode. Our point-and-shoot settings are our emotions—efficient; automated programs honed by evolution; culture; and personal experience. The brain’s manual mode is its capacity for deliberate reasoning; which makes our thinking flexible. Point-and-shoot emotions make us social animals; turning Me into Us. But they also make us tribal animals; turning Us against Them. Our tribal emotions make us fight—sometimes with bombs; sometimes with words—often with life-and-death stakes. A major achievement from a rising star in a new scientific field; Moral Tribes will refashion your deepest beliefs about how moral thinking works and how it can work better.
#75771 in Books Penguin Books 2013-09-03 2013-09-03Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.15 x .63 x 7.46l; 1.25 #File Name: 0143124749336 pages
Review
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. PowerfulBy Mark GrossmanI first read this book in college and it has stayed with me for the last 25 years. Through the various moves; I lost this book and am happy to have it back in my collection. When my children are old enough to read it; this will be the most important book they read and I hope it instills in them the same understanding of the potential for man's inhumanity to man as it instilled in me and I hope it keeps them keenly aware of when people begin to slide down that long and dangerous slippery slope. I also hope it teaches them the concept of true bravery and the value of fighting for something larger than oneself. In short; this book has the potential to make us all better people by exposing both the worst and the best that man can be. You can not read it and remain unchanged.3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. The Civil Rights PrimerBy Fred T.This companion book deserves space on your library if you are serious about history or what solid documentation for future reference. The Eyes on the Prize series was revolutionary as it wove a critical piece of modern history which was easy for anyone to absorb. The book comes with solid pictures and other tidbits which put you right in the drama which unfolded on the national scene. I have my differences with Juan Williams; however he did a good job in writing the book.3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Excellent Book on the Civil Rights JourneyBy TJMjrIf I taught 20th century history I would include " Eyes On the Prize" as a key part of my course. High schools; colleges and Church groups should also use this book to guide any discussions on racism and the hisotry of the civil rights era. An excellent chronology with the necessary detail that lays out the start of the Civil rights journey through 1968. Well written; easily understood and based on facts this book identifies the long difficult fight for equality. The underlying truth that makes this book so good is that those who marched; conducted sit-ins and died used the US Constitution as the basis to right the wrongs of inequlaity and racism.
