The Righteous Mind

Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion

Jonathan Haidt

3/5

"I liked it"

The Righteous Mind is an interesting book. I expected to find a casual discussion of the book’s subtitle, “Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion”, but instead I found a book primarily about moral philosophy. As a newcomer to philosophy, it was an interesting introduction to the topic. It’s clear that Haidt has a scientific mindset, including creating many experiments of his own, which I appreciate.

After reading this book, I feel like I’m more cognizant of my own mind’s ability to self-justify anything I do, despite whether my actions were actually good or bad. I guess one of Haidt’s biggest points is that we are genetically conditioned to think of ourselves as righteous— we each have a Righteous Mind.

I also found the Moral Foundations Theory interesting, as it tries to create a map of all cultures’ morality.

Also, I think my attitude towards corporations, countries, and groups of people in general has changed a bit. Haidt points out that, in a way, groups of people are like superorganisms, and they also behave selfishly— the “best” (not necessarily the “morally good”) groups win, survive, and reproduce.

Notes

Haidt argues:

We are “groupish” (think “selfish” but for your group)

”Hiveish-ness”: The level to which people are organized into groups

When it comes to religion…

When it comes to politics…

Moral Foundations Theory

Other

This book explained why people are divided by politics and religion. The answer is not… because some people are god and others are evil. Instead… our minds were designed for groupish righteousness. We are deeply intuitive creatures whose gut feelings drive our strategic reasoning. This makes it difficult… to connect with those who live in other matrices, which are often built on difference configurations of the available moral foundations.

—Jonathan Haidt

Takeaways