The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion

"A landmark contribution to humanity's understanding of itself" – The New York Times

Have you ever wondered:

• Why it sometimes feels as though half the population is living in a different moral universe?
• Why ideas like 'fairness' and 'freedom' mean such vastly different things to different people?
• Why it’s so hard to see things from another person’s viewpoint?
• Why politics and religion so often lead to conflict?

Jonathan Haidt delves into these profound questions, revealing that our struggles to get along stem from the way our minds are hardwired to be moralistic, judgmental, and self-righteous.

Key Insights:

• The Evolution of Morality: Haidt explains how morality developed as a tool to help us form communities.
• Diverse Moral Values: Justice and equality may dominate some people’s moral compass, but for others, values like authority, sanctity, or loyalty hold greater significance.
• The Double-Edged Sword of Morality: Morality has the power to both bind us together and blind us to other perspectives.

Using his groundbreaking research, Haidt demonstrates that it is possible to break free from the disputes that divide good people.