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Robert Wright

Robert Wright Quotes

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Famous Robert Wright Quotes

“If two people stare at each other for more than a few seconds, it means they are about to either make love or fight. Something similar might be said about human societies. If two nearby societies are in contact for any length of time, they will either trade or fight. The first is non-zero-sum social integration, and the second ultimately brings it.”

PeopleIfsFirstsHumansMeanSaidTwoMightFightingSocialTradeContactStaringLengthZeroSecondsMaking LoveIntegrationHuman Society
Author:Robert Wright
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“Humans have various ways of coping with extended stress, and one is the anticipation of a better time. Here, as with retribution, there is often a kind of symmetry: the more intense the stress and the more hopeless the situation, the more fabulous the coming times that are anticipated.”

WayHumansKindSituationStressVariousIntenseHopelessAnticipationFabulousCopingRetributionSymmetry
Book:The Evolution Of God: The origins of our beliefs
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“Whereas modern cynicism brought despair about the ability of the human species to realize laudable ideals, postmodern cynicism doesn't — not because it's optimistic, but because it can't take ideals seriously in the first place. The prevailing attitude is Absurdism. A postmodern magazine may be irreverent, but not bitterly irreverent, for it's not purposefully irreverent; its aim is indiscriminate, because everyone is equally ridiculous. And anyway, there's no moral basis for passing judgment. Just sit back and enjoy the show.”

FirstsHumansMayShowsEnjoyRealizingAbilityAttitudeMoralModernDespairJudgmentIdealsBasesAimSpeciesRidiculousPassingPassingsOptimisticMagazinesCynicismPrevailingHuman SpeciesPostmodernIrreverentPassing Judgment
Author:Robert Wright
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“Darwin was one of our finest specimens. He did superbly what human beings are designed to do: manipulate social information to personal advantage. The information in question was the prevailing account of how human beings, and all organisms, came to exist; Darwin reshaped it in a way that radically raised his social status. When he died in 1882, his greatness was acclaimed in newspapers around the world, and he was buried in Westminster Abbey, not far from the body of Isaac Newton. Alpha-male territory.”

WorldWayHumansBodySocialHuman BeingsInformationGreatnessEvolutionAdvantageAccountsDiedRaisedMalesNewspapersAround The WorldTerritoryBuriedOrganismsFinestManipulateNewtonAlpha MalePrevailingIsaacAlphasAbbeySocial StatusWestminsterWestminster Abbey
Book:The Moral Animal: Why We Are, the Way We Are: The New Science of Evolutionary Psychology
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