The two books are very much complementary. However, in this book, the focus is squarely on moralistic thinking rather than a wider focus on cognitive biases in general. Those who are familiar with Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow, will recognise this divide as similar to the “system 1” and “system 2” thinking described in that book. Haidt works with the metaphor that “ The mind is divided, like a rider on an elephant, and the rider’s job is to serve the elephant.”. Part 1: Intuitions come first, strategic reasoning second. If we can understand more about how people form their views of what is right and wrong in the world, this can help us get along better with others, instead of judging people with opposing views to be extremists of some sort. When we’re online, whether we’re reading an article by a journalist, the comments below that article, or opinions shared on a social media platform, there’s usually a moralistic stance behind the words we read or write. The Righteous Mind provides a framework which we can use to understand ideologies and the political spectrum. He’s concerned about the rise in anxiety in young people compared with previous generations, and their lack of tolerance for opposing views. It’s worth noting however, that the author Jonathan Haidt does have things to say about our use of technology: he was interviewed for The Social Dilemma, and his most recent book, The Coddling of the American Mind, discusses the impact of smart phones and social media on teenagers who grew up with them.

That’s why, despite being slightly tangential to the topics of this website, I decided to review The Righteous Mind. With a tendency towards echo chambers in our online interactions, where we easily find views which confirm our own, it seems to me that we need to build our capacity to understand alternative views more than ever. In the digital age, and particular over the last two years of the pandemic, so much of our lives have been online.

It’s about morality and understanding others who may have a different sense of what is right and wrong. The Righteous Mind is not a book about either mindfulness or technology (the topics of this website). “Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion” Book Review Cover Title The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion Author Jonathan Haidt Published 13 th March 2012 ISBN 9780141039169 Support us 📚 Buy from Book Depositoryīuying via our affiliate link supports mindful.technology with a small commission from your purchase.

The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt