Jonathan Haidt

Intuitions Drive Moral Judgments

Jonathan Haidt argues that moral judgments are primarily driven by automatic, intuitive processes rather than deliberate reasoning. He likens this to a rider (reason) steering an elephant (intuition), where the rider often justifies the movements of the elephant post hoc. As Haidt writes, 'Intuitions come first, strategic reasoning second.' This idea challenges rationalist approaches, asserting that our gut feelings significantly influence moral decisions, often overriding logical deliberation.

Moral Foundations Vary by Culture

Haidt explains that morality encompasses more than harm and fairness, including loyalty, authority, and sanctity, which varies significantly across cultures. Western societies may prioritize harm and fairness, but other cultures also value communal bonds and traditions. 'Secular Western moralities are like cuisines that try to activate just one or two of these receptors,' Haidt highlights, showing the diverse psychological mechanisms that inform moral judgments globally.

Groupish Nature of Humanity

Humans are inherently 'groupish,' meaning we form and protect social groups, which has been crucial for survival. Haidt shows that this tendency leads to altruism within groups but can also foster intergroup conflict. 'Racism, genocide, and suicide bombing are all manifestations of groupishness,' he writes, illustrating the dual-edged nature of these instincts that drive both cooperation and competition.

Liberty and Authority in Politics

According to Haidt, political ideologies are deeply rooted in moral foundations. Liberals tend to prioritize Care and Fairness, while conservatives value all five foundations, including Loyalty, Authority, and Sanctity. 'Liberals value Care and Fairness far more than the other three foundations; conservatives endorse all five foundations more or less equally,' he explains, shedding light on the moral underpinnings that drive political beliefs and actions.

The Hive Switch and Collective Effervescence

Haidt introduces the concept of the 'hive switch,' a psychological mechanism that allows individuals to transcend self-interest and become part of a cohesive group. Group activities like rituals or synchronized movements trigger this switch, fostering unity and collective identity. 'We have the ability (under special conditions) to transcend self-interest and lose ourselves (temporarily and ecstatically) in something larger than ourselves,' Haidt notes, emphasizing the role of collective experiences in social cohesion.

Religion as Social Glue

Haidt posits that religion serves to bind communities through shared rituals and beliefs, promoting cooperation and trust. He argues, 'Religions exist primarily for people to achieve together what they cannot achieve on their own.' By focusing on the social functions of religion rather than just individual beliefs, Haidt underscores its role in fostering group cohesion and facilitating large-scale cooperation among humans.

The Evolution of Morality

Haidt discusses how moral behaviors like altruism evolved through group selection, benefiting groups that could suppress selfishness and cooperate effectively. 'Human nature is 90% chimp and 10% bee,' he explains, highlighting the balance between individualistic and group-oriented behaviors shaped by evolutionary pressures. This blend of self-interest and group cooperation has been essential for human social and moral development.

Engage in Constructive Debates

Recognize that moral judgments can be influenced through positive interactions with others. Engage in respectful and open-minded discussions to potentially reshape your and others' moral intuitions.

Balance Emotional and Rational Inputs

When faced with a moral dilemma, take a moment to reflect on your initial reaction. Allow your reason to assess the situation critically rather than immediately justifying your intuitive response.

Participate in Group Activities

To activate the hive switch, immerse yourself in activities that involve synchronized movement and collective effort, such as team sports or community service projects.

Embrace Moral Complexity

Explore moral perspectives beyond harm and fairness by considering community and spiritual values. Recognize that different cultures and ideologies offer valid moral insights.

Promote Cooperative Practices

Implement group activities that require collaboration and mutual support. This can be within professional settings, families, or social organizations, mimicking the cohesive benefits seen in religious communities.

Intuitions come first, strategic reasoning second.

There's more to morality than harm and fairness.

The rider evolved to serve the elephant, but it’s a dignified partnership, more like a lawyer serving a client than a slave serving a master.

When morality opposes justice: conservatives have moral intuitions that liberals may not recognize.

If you really want to change someone’s mind on a moral or political matter, you’ll need to see things from that person’s angle as well as your own. Empathy is an antidote to righteousness.

Moral reasoning is often a servant of moral emotions, and this was a challenge to the rationalist approach that dominated moral psychology.

We humans have a dual nature—we are selfish primates who long to be a part of something larger and nobler than ourselves. We are 90 percent chimp and 10 percent bee.

The moral domain varies by culture. It is unusually narrow in Western, educated, and individualistic cultures. Sociocentric cultures broaden the moral domain to encompass and regulate more aspects of life.

Genetic evolution greatly accelerated during the last 50,000 years. The rate at which genes changed in response to selection pressures began rising around 40,000 years ago.

Our brains evaluate everything in terms of potential threat or benefit to the self, and then adjust behavior to get more of the good stuff and less of the bad.

Murder often seems virtuous to revolutionaries. It just somehow feels like the right thing to do.

When people choose the labels 'liberal' or 'conservative,' they are not just choosing to endorse different values on questionnaires. Within the first half second after hearing a statement, partisan brains are already reacting differently.

We don’t express gratitude in order to repay debts or balance ledgers but rather to strengthen relationships.

Liberals like Care and Fairness best, and build their moral matrices mostly on those two foundations.

Racism, genocide, and suicide bombing are all manifestations of groupishness. They are not things that people do in order to outcompete their local peers; they are things people do to help their groups outcompete other groups.

This finding, that people will readily fabricate reasons to explain their own behavior, is called “confabulation.”

Nothing is miserable unless you think it so; and on the other hand, nothing brings happiness unless you are content with it.

Intuitions come first, strategic reasoning second.

There's more to morality than harm and fairness.

The rider evolved to serve the elephant, but it’s a dignified partnership, more like a lawyer serving a client than a slave serving a master.

When morality opposes justice: conservatives have moral intuitions that liberals may not recognize.

If you really want to change someone’s mind on a moral or political matter, you’ll need to see things from that person’s angle as well as your own. Empathy is an antidote to righteousness.

Moral reasoning is often a servant of moral emotions, and this was a challenge to the rationalist approach that dominated moral psychology.

We humans have a dual nature—we are selfish primates who long to be a part of something larger and nobler than ourselves. We are 90 percent chimp and 10 percent bee.

The moral domain varies by culture. It is unusually narrow in Western, educated, and individualistic cultures. Sociocentric cultures broaden the moral domain to encompass and regulate more aspects of life.

Genetic evolution greatly accelerated during the last 50,000 years. The rate at which genes changed in response to selection pressures began rising around 40,000 years ago.

Our brains evaluate everything in terms of potential threat or benefit to the self, and then adjust behavior to get more of the good stuff and less of the bad.

Murder often seems virtuous to revolutionaries. It just somehow feels like the right thing to do.

When people choose the labels 'liberal' or 'conservative,' they are not just choosing to endorse different values on questionnaires. Within the first half second after hearing a statement, partisan brains are already reacting differently.

We don’t express gratitude in order to repay debts or balance ledgers but rather to strengthen relationships.

Liberals like Care and Fairness best, and build their moral matrices mostly on those two foundations.

Racism, genocide, and suicide bombing are all manifestations of groupishness. They are not things that people do in order to outcompete their local peers; they are things people do to help their groups outcompete other groups.