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  • The Righteous Mind

  • Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion
  • Written by: Jonathan Haidt
  • Narrated by: Jonathan Haidt
  • Length: 11 hrs and 1 min
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (561 ratings)

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The Righteous Mind

Written by: Jonathan Haidt
Narrated by: Jonathan Haidt
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Publisher's Summary

Why can’t our political leaders work together as threats loom and problems mount? Why do people so readily assume the worst about the motives of their fellow citizens?

In The Righteous Mind, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt explores the origins of our divisions and points the way forward to mutual understanding. His starting point is moral intuition - the nearly instantaneous perceptions we all have about other people and the things they do. These intuitions feel like self-evident truths, making us righteously certain that those who see things differently are wrong.

Haidt shows us how these intuitions differ across cultures, including the cultures of the political left and right. He blends his own research findings with those of anthropologists, historians, and other psychologists to draw a map of the moral domain, and he explains why conservatives can navigate that map more skillfully than can liberals. He then examines the origins of morality, overturning the view that evolution made us fundamentally selfish creatures.

But rather than arguing that we are innately altruistic, he makes a more subtle claim - that we are fundamentally groupish. It is our groupishness, he explains, that leads to our greatest joys, our religious divisions, and our political affiliations. In a stunning final chapter on ideology and civility, Haidt shows what each side is right about, and why we need the insights of liberals, conservatives, and libertarians to flourish as a nation.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2012 Jonathan Haidt (P)2012 Gildan Media LLC

What the critics say

"Haidt is looking for more than victory. He's looking for wisdom. That's what makes The Righteous Mind well worth reading…. a landmark contribution to humanity’s understanding of itself.” ( The New York Times Book Review)

What listeners say about The Righteous Mind

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interesting perspective on the other side

I think I can actually understand both sides a bit better now. I might need to relisten to it, just to make sure I understand completely. but that's just my ADD. it's a good read for everyone. I like that it didn't take sides, just looked at them.

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A book to reorient you

So many great ideas, well focused to an important and interesting central problem, with a perspicuous tour of the philosophical and psychological literature. Well worth it.

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turning point in moral revelations!

Dr. Haidt is perhaps the best educator on the subject of morality in psychology I have ever heard. This book is nothing short of mind charmingly brilliant in opening ones eyes to the views and morals of others.

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great book.

this book represents the idea of how we see differences from each other, which factors in our mind are driven us, and how to deal with the problem.

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One of the best books I've ever read

This book completely changed how I look at politics and people's opinions about politics. It gave me terminology and a framework I can use to have discussions with people who have different opinions than me, and it provides valuable insight into why I believe what I believe and how I might look at things in a new way. There is so much to dig into in this book I will definitely listen to it again.

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Interesting look at different ideas/models

Jon does a good job of covering a lot of ground and summarizing some quite interesting topics. He poses clever questions to evoke different emotions and to try to get you to see through your own biases. I really liked this book, but I find some of his underlying assumptions about modern capitalism to be oversimplified. Part of this is that the book was written while Obama was still president, which makes for a much different outlook on the financial and radical political landscape. Although a lot has changed politically since the book was written (and I would say overwhelmingly for the worse) what Jon has to say does ring true at its core, just not necessarily in all of its examples.

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Fantastic, beautiful and enlightening

If more people read/ listened to this book the understanding of division and how it’s manipulated would be fair less prevalent and powerful. These “super organisms” (massive company’s) wish to divide us to conquer countries easier.

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Necessary for understanding political polarization

Read if you’re confused by the stupidity of the other side. After this book you’ll understand there’s more going on

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Interesting and eye opening

Always struggled to understand why people think that they are right. This book helped me to see how people become so strongly attached to their beliefs and reasoning. Highly recommend for those who want to understand morality and its complexities.

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Amazing book.

I knew Haidt was a great thinker before I read this, but now I think he's genius. This book so accurately describes why we react the way we do and explains so much our current situation. I feel like I have a whole new understanding of the world. A must read. Highly recommend it.

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