Do you ever get to a point where you feel like you're just not learning anything anymore? It's all kind of the same? You've heard it all? Well, I was at a book club, and some of the ladies were talking about a book from a different book club, and when I heard what it was about, I thought: "I think I'd like that!"
There are few books that have been totally awe inspiring and perspective changing to me. I'd say the first one was A Return to Modesty. Others have been Outliers, Freakonomics, and Why Gender Matters. The latest one is The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt.
This is a book about moral psychology, something I've never heard of. A lot of what Haidt says just makes sense. He also gets into religion and speaks positively of how it unites people (and blinds them), but how it's generally good for communities by creating connection and collaboration. During parts of the book, I was a little bit afraid that it would weaken my testimony because he was pointing out just how practical organized religion is and how our brains create reasons for things (like why the gods do certain things to certain people), but near the end of the book as I was evaluating my feelings, I realized religion is more than community connection or rewards/punishment from the gods that humans have created. I've experienced things that are more than oxytocin. I've seen experiences in people's lives play out that shouldn't have. I think Haidt is right, but I think religion still goes deeper.
In the end, couldn't our Heavenly Father have used masterful psychology as part of his perfect plan? I already believe he used science in His creation, so it only make sense He would use other disciplines, too.
I started out by taking a few notes on paper, so I don't know exactly where Haidt said some of this, but later, I just started bookmarking my audiobook and can note a reference time. Anyway, here are a few thoughts worth saving:
(Chapter 1, I think?) Haidt talked about our brains systemizing and empathizing. Those who systemize too much fall in the autism spectrum.
Psychology is based on behavior observation, not measured like science and math [religion is the same way - not measured, which is why some people have a hard time believing]. There was a decreased in non-science/measurable disciplines as science gained popularity [a loss of faith in things they couldn't see and and increase in things they could see and measure].
He talked about coming to feel that dead bodies were sacred. That's something I've always felt, but my husband is opposite. I found it interesting that my husband isn't the only one!
Men lean toward tribalism and loyalty and being a traitor is really bad. Women lean toward coupling.
(Chapter 2, maybe?) Without punishment, people are selfish.
(5:10) If there's no disgust, then there's no sacred [opposite?]. Sacredness leads to a moral community. Liberals appeal to care and fairness. Conservatives appeal to care, fairness, loyalty, authority, and sanctity. WOW. When I heard this, it explained a lot about how my husband and I think differently. It explianed Republicans and Democrats. My husband is definitely a care and fairness guy, but I also value the other three. He doesn't really value loyalty, authority, and only partially, sanctity.
(8:13) Synchrony Builds Trust: When we do things together/have commonalities, we are more likely to trust each other and help each other out. We create commonalities/groupishness with how we look, dress, talk, shared name, birthday, move together, exercise, haka, sing, march, parties, karaoke.
(8:14) Create healthy competition between teams (armies, sports, corporate divisions), not individuals.
(8:25) The Hive Switch: Becoming a part of the whole through awe in nature, Durkheimian drugs, raves; oxytocin binds people to their groups, not all of humanity.
(8:28) College football example: makes you feel like you are part of a whole, even though it is costly, wasteful, and extravagant and "impairs people's ability to think rationally." Moves people "from profane to sacred" (Durkheim), leads to donations, improved school experience, stronger community.
(8:31) Morality Binds and Blinds: Scientists miss the point by studying religious "individuals and their supernatural beliefs rather than focusing on groups and their binding practices."
(8:46) Successful religions expend precious resources to spread, just like a virus, you can also spread religion to make groups cohesive and cooperative (8:48). The Gods of larger societies are "concerned about actions that foment conflict and division" (murder, adultery, false witness, breaking of oaths).
(8:49) People cheat less when there is an image of an eye nearby, or when the concept of God is activated in memory. They cheat more when the lights are dim. Gods who can see everything and hate cheaters and oathbreakers is a good way to reduce cheating and oathbreaking (good for society).
(8:51) The more "costly sacrifices" a religious commune provided, the more likely it was to survive [think Pioneers]. "Giving up alcohol and tobacco, fasting for days..., conforming to a ... dresscode..., cutting ties with outsiders." Demands for sacrifices in secular communes did not work. Rituals, laws, and other constraints work best when they are sacralized. When secular groups ask for a sacrifice, individuals want a cost/benefit analysis and "many refuse to do things that don't make logical sense." Ritual practices are a solution to bringing cooperation and rationality. "Sacredness binds people together, then blinds them to the arbitrariness of the practice." Gods help a group succeed. Haidt mentions the spread of "Mormonism" here at about 8:54.
(10:18) Corporations are super-organisms that will change their host countries. National governments are the only thing that can stand up to the large corporations.
(10:24) Haidt talks about pollutants driving up rates of ADHD, so maybe we do need to give more money to the EPA so that pollutants will go down, ADHD will go down, and we'll have potential less violence and crime.
(10:30) Example of absurdity of using insurance for routine practices and and how this inflates prices.
(10:42) Social capital: High levels of immigration and diversity actually reduced social capital. Bridging capital is trust between groups. Bonding capital is trust within groups. Diversity reduces both types of social capital. Diversity triggers social isolation. Diversity makes people more selfish and less interested in contributing (turtling). Turtling is opposite of hiving (working together like bees in a beehive). So, in an effort to break down oppression, exclusion and arbitrary barriers, liberals (meaning to care and provide fairness) inadvertently push for changes that "weaken groups, traditions, institutions, and moral capital." Inner city poor help > welfare programs > reduced value of marriage > increased out of wedlock birth [others may say this change was also created by the availability of birth control]. Emphasizing differences makes people more racist, not less, so we need to focus on our similarities.
(10:47) Animosity between political party candidates increased when politicians stopped moving to DC with their families and people didn't have to live and work together to cooperate. Cross party friendships are disappearing.
(11:00) Find commonality with others and develop trust. Give praise, develop interest.
