The Righteous Mind

Short Review: The five stars is for impact more than anything else. It is probably a four star book, but I will be using the ideas for a while. The main theory that the Righteous Mind is describing is an adapted form of Moral Foundations Theory. This theory posits that there are six moral values that different people hold in different combinations and levels. Broadly conservatives hold all six, but with different mixes. While progressives mostly focus on Fairness, Care (and maybe Liberty). The six (as stolen from Wikipedia) are:

Care: cherishing and protecting others; opposite of harm.
Fairness or proportionality: rendering justice according to shared rules; opposite of cheating.
Liberty: the loathing of tyranny; opposite of oppression.
Loyalty or ingroup: standing with your group, family, nation; opposite of betrayal.
Authority or respect: submitting to tradition and legitimate author; opposite of subversion.
Sanctity or purity: abhorrence for disgusting things, foods, actions; opposite of degradation.

Haidt is looking at why people come to different conclusions even when we have similar backgrounds or facts. He suggests that different intuitions that are often subconscious influence how we interpret the world around us.

His central metaphor is an elephant and rider. The elephant is the intuition and the rider is the rational capacity. The rider is there and can change the direction of the elephant. But the elephant has inertia and power, which means that unless there is a reason that a change needs to happen, the intuition will often lead.

This is a concept that I think is broadly helpful. And one that I will be visiting again.

My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/righteous-mind/