Why everyone (else) is a hypocrite: evolution and the modular mind
By Robert Kurzban
Consistently Inconsistent
In this book, Kurzban aims to convince the reader that the brain is made up of "modules" which are different parts of the brain that as a whole, shape human behavior. He argues that the human mind is made up of many different mental processes that do not always align. For example, split brain patients. In an experiment by two neuroscientists, they showed that one hemisphere could see something that the other hemisphere couldn't. A simpler example Kurzban used is the phantom arm example where people with amputated arms and legs say that they can still feel those missing limbs. Kurzban argues that this is because some of the nervous system truly believes that the limb is still there. Another one of Kurzvan's arguments is that people should not believe everything that comes out of a person's mouth because the "talking portion" of the brain is not connected to everything else. In other words, the "talking portion" does not accurately portray what the rest of the modules believe; this is the reason for apparent contradictions, why everyone else is a hypocrite and you're not. kurzban's entire book rests on his argument that there are different modules which is why we have inconsistencies, specifically moral hypocrisy.
Kurzban's introduction began with the argument that "Being ignorant, wrong, irrational, and hypocritical can make you much better off than being knowledgable, correct, reasonable, and consisten. As long as you're ignorant, wrong, irrational, and hypocritical in the right ways." In later chapters he discusses how knowing more information can just be disadvantageous, especially to a person's moral compass but that does not make his previous claim any more believable or credible That is, unless a person wants to stay ignorant, wrong, irrational, and hypocritical. However through his examples, I can see how a person's brain has different modules that either work together or separately.
On a side note, his "wit" and "sometimes hilarious" personality, is not obvious in this book.
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