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Jonathan Haidt

Jonathan Haidt Quotes

Psychologist

Jonathan Haidt is an American psychologist known for his research in moral psychology and social psychology. His work focuses on moral judgment, political ideology, and religious beliefs. Haidt's book, 'The Righteous Mind,' explores the evolution of morality and ideology and how they shape human behavior and social structures.

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Famous Jonathan Haidt Quotes

“While it is useful to rebut charges and get your arguments out in circulation, you have to understand that arguments and evidence have little impact on people as long as their feelings tilt them against you.”

People Littles Long Feelings Evidence Argument Impact Circulation Tilt

Author:Jonathan Haidt

“Scandal is great entertainment because it allows people to feel contempt, a moral emotion that gives feelings of moral superiority while asking nothing in return. With contempt you don't need to right the wrong (as with anger) or flee the scene (as with fear or disgust). And the best of all, contempt is made to share. Stories about the moral failings of others are among the most common kinds of gossip, they are a stable of talk radio, and they offer a ready way for people to show that they share a common moral orientation.”

Source: The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom

“Happiness is not the shallow state of feeling pleased and chipper all the time. Happiness is the state of a human being that has achieved cross-level coherence within herself, and between herself and the people, challenges, and institutions around her. Happiness comes from between.”

People Humans States Feelings Challenges Human Beings Levels Crosses Institutions Shallow Coherence

Author:Jonathan Haidt

“Scandal is great entertainment because it allows people to feel contempt, a moral emotion that gives feeling of moral superiority while asking nothing in return.”

People Giving Feels Feelings Emotion Moral Return Morality Asking Entertainment Contempt Superiority Scandal Moral Superiority

Book:The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom

Source: The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom

“You can see the rider serving the elephant when people are morally dumbfounded. They have strong gut feelings about what is right and wrong, and they struggle to construct post hoc justifications for those feelings. Even when the servant (reasoning) comes back empty-handed, the master (intuition) doesn't change his judgment.”

People Feelings Strong Struggle Masters Judgment Empty Intuition Posts Servant Reasoning Guts Serving Justification Elephants Constructs Riders Gut Feelings

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

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

“Do people believe in human rights because such rights actually exist, like mathematical truths, sitting on a cosmic shelf next to the Pythagorean theorem just waiting to be discovered by Platonic reasoners? Or do people feel revulsion and sympathy when they read accounts of torture, and then invent a story about universal rights to help justify their feelings?”

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

“If you have high IQ, you're really good at finding post-hoc arguments to support your feelings of truthiness.”

Ifs Feelings Support Findings Argument Posts

Author:Jonathan Haidt