Jonathan Haidt: The moral roots of liberals and conservatives
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This section introduces a scenario of two friends visiting Michelangelo's "David" in Italy and discusses the likelihood of their political affiliations based on their reactions to the statue.
Reaction to "David"
- One friend, Adam, is transfixed by the beauty of the perfect human form.
- The other friend, Bill, is embarrassed and uncomfortable staring at the statue.
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This section explores the relationship between personality traits and political affiliations.
Openness to Experience
- Liberals tend to be higher in openness to experience compared to conservatives.
- Open individuals crave novelty, variety, diversity, new ideas, and travel.
- Closed individuals prefer familiarity, safety, and dependability.
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This section highlights how understanding openness to experience can help explain various aspects of human behavior.
Understanding Human Behavior
- Openness to experience helps explain differences between artists and accountants.
- It predicts preferences for books, travel destinations, and food choices.
- It explains why some people eat at Applebee's while others do not.
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This section discusses how openness to experience relates to political views.
Political Views
- Open individuals have an affinity for liberal, progressive, left-wing political views.
- Closed individuals prefer conservative, traditional, right-wing views.
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This section examines the types of groups that people with different levels of openness to experience are likely to join.
Group Affiliations
- Open individuals are more likely to join a global community seeking a deeper understanding of the world and hoping for a better future.
- The speaker speculates that most TEDsters, who are open-minded, would lean towards being liberal.
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This section involves audience participation to determine the political affiliations of the TED audience.
Audience Political Affiliations
- The speaker asks the audience members to raise their hands if they identify as liberal, libertarian, or conservative.
- A significant number identify as liberal or left-of-center, while fewer identify as libertarian or conservative.
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This section discusses the implications of lacking moral diversity within a group focused on seeking a deeper understanding of the world.
Lack of Moral Diversity
- The lack of moral diversity within a group can hinder its ability to gain a deeper understanding of the world.
- When people share values and morals, they tend to form teams and engage in closed-minded thinking.
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This section challenges the assumption that those who hold different political views are blinded by religion or stupidity.
Challenging Assumptions
- Assuming that those with different political views are blinded by religion or stupidity traps us in a moral Matrix.
- The speaker offers an alternative choice: taking the red pill to learn about moral psychology and step outside the moral Matrix.
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This section encourages the audience to embrace openness to experience and explore moral psychology.
Embracing Openness and Moral Psychology
- The speaker assumes that the audience, being high in openness to experience, has chosen to take the red pill.
- The audience is invited to study moral psychology and see where it leads.
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This section discusses the concept of innateness in relation to the development of the mind.
Innateness of the Mind
- The idea that the mind is a blank slate at birth is considered one of the worst ideas in psychology.
- Developmental psychology shows that children come into the world with innate knowledge about the physical and social worlds.
- Nature provides an initial organization of the brain, which is then revised through experience.
The Five Foundations of Morality
In this section, the speaker discusses the five foundations of morality and how they shape our moral beliefs and actions.
The Five Foundations
- The first foundation is harm/care, which is rooted in our innate ability to bond with others and feel compassion for the weak and vulnerable.
- The second foundation is fairness/reciprocity, which is deeply ingrained in human behavior and forms the basis of the Golden Rule.
- The third foundation is in-group/loyalty, where humans are unique in their ability to form large cooperative groups to fight against other groups.
- The fourth foundation is authority/respect, which differs from other primates as it is based on voluntary deference and elements of love.
- The fifth foundation is purity/sanctity, encompassing ideas about controlling one's body and what goes into it. It can be seen in both sexual morality and food choices.
Cultural Variation in Moral Foundations
This section explores how cultural variation influences moral foundations and shapes individuals' moral values.
Cultural Differences
- Different cultures exhibit variations in moral foundations. Liberals tend to prioritize harm/care and fairness/reciprocity, while conservatives also value in-group/loyalty, authority/respect, and purity/sanctity.
- This pattern holds true across different countries such as Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Latin America, Middle East, East Asia, and South Asia.
- Moral arguments within cultures often revolve around issues related to in-group loyalty, authority/respect, and purity/sanctity, rather than harm and fairness.
The Moral Mind and Cultural Differences
This section delves deeper into the moral mind and how cultural differences shape individuals' moral values.
The Moral Mind
- The moral mind can be compared to an audio equalizer with five channels representing the five foundations of morality.
- Liberals tend to have a two-channel morality focused on harm/care and fairness/reciprocity, while conservatives have a five-channel morality that includes in-group/loyalty, authority/respect, and purity/sanctity.
Cultural Variation Study
- A study involving dog breeds revealed that liberals value independence and equality in dogs, while conservatives prioritize loyalty and family attachment.
- This demonstrates how different moral values influence individuals' perceptions even when it comes to choosing a pet.
Conclusion
The speaker highlights the importance of understanding cultural variations in moral foundations to foster empathy and bridge ideological divides. By recognizing the diverse perspectives shaped by these foundations, we can work towards a more inclusive society.
The Garden of Earthly Delights
In this section, the speaker discusses "The Garden of Earthly Delights" and its portrayal of the decay of order. The concept of social entropy is explored, along with a study on cooperation and punishment.
The Decay of Order
- "The Garden of Earthly Delights" depicts the moment of creation where everything is ordered and beautiful.
- Over time, things change and people start doing whatever they want, leading to chaos.
- This progression from order to decay is a timeless truth known as social entropy.
Cooperation and Punishment
- A study conducted by Ernst Fehr and Simon Gächter involved a commons dilemma game to simulate environmental issues.
- Initially, people were reasonably cooperative but cooperation quickly decayed when others didn't contribute much.
- However, when the option to punish non-contributors was introduced, cooperation increased significantly.
- Research suggests that punishment plays a crucial role in solving cooperative problems.
Religion and Cooperation
- Some research suggests that religion can promote cooperation and pro-social behavior within groups.
- Religion may have evolved as an adaptation for groups to trust each other and compete effectively with other groups.
The Origin of Religion
In this section, the speaker explores the origin of religion and its impact on human societies. The complexity of human cooperation is highlighted.
The Greatest Wonder
- The speaker believes that the greatest wonder in the world is not natural formations like the Grand Canyon but rather how humans lived together in cooperative groups throughout history.
- From small villages to mighty cities, human cooperation played a crucial role in societal development.
Tools for Cooperation
- Human moral psychology played a significant role in creating cooperative groups.
- Concern for harm, justice, subgroup organization, internal structure within subgroups, and ideologies promoting higher goals all contributed to successful cooperation.
The Liberal-Conservative Divide
- Liberals and conservatives have different perspectives on the foundations of society.
- Liberals emphasize diversity, questioning authority, and personal autonomy.
- Conservatives value institutions, traditions, and order even at the cost of those at the bottom.
Balancing Change and Stability
- Both liberals and conservatives contribute to society by providing a balance between change and stability.
- Stepping outside the moral matrix allows for a broader understanding of different perspectives.
The transcript provided does not include specific timestamps for each bullet point.
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This section discusses the concept of yin and yang, as well as the role of Vishnu and Shiva in Hinduism. It also introduces the idea of not being 'for' or 'against' in moral psychology.
Yin and Yang, Vishnu and Shiva
- Yin and yang are necessary for the functioning of the world, similar to night and day.
- In Hinduism, Vishnu represents preservation while Shiva represents destruction.
- The image shows both gods sharing the same body, symbolizing their collaboration.
Insights from Buddhism
- Two stanzas from Zen master Sēngcàn provide deep insights into moral psychology.
- The struggle between 'for' and 'against' is considered a disease of the mind.
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This section explores how ancient Asian philosophies can be combined with modern research on moral psychology to draw conclusions about human behavior.
Uniting and Dividing
- Our righteous minds were evolved to unite us into teams but also divide us against other teams.
- This division often blinds us to the truth.
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This section addresses whether one should strive or embrace non-duality in moral decision-making.
Striving vs. Non-Duality
- While it is important to strive for positive change, it is equally important to step out of the battle between good and evil.
- The speaker acknowledges that many people are already doing great work to make the world a better place.
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This section emphasizes understanding our own moral psychology before attempting to change others.
Changing Other People
- To effectively change others, we must first understand ourselves and our own biases.
- Stepping out of our own moral matrix allows us to see the perspectives and reasons behind others' actions.
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This section highlights the importance of moral humility in creating positive change.
Cultivating Moral Humility
- Stepping out of the self-righteousness that is inherent in human nature cultivates moral humility.
- The Dalai Lama's moral authority comes from his practice of moral humility.
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This section emphasizes the passionate commitment to both making the world a better place and seeking truth.
Pursuit of Change and Truth
- TED is a group passionately engaged in changing the world for the better.
- There is also a strong commitment to seeking truth alongside this pursuit.