{"author":"Jonathan Haidt","author_id":"Jonathan+Haidt","total_quotes":46,"quotes":[{"text":"I quickly realized that there are two main kinds of diversity—demographic and moral. ... Once you make this distinction, you see that nobody can coherently even want moral diversity. If you are pro-choice on the issue of abortion, would you prefer that there be a wide variety of opinions and no dominant one? Or would you prefer that everyone agree with you and the laws of the land reflect that agreement? If you prefer diversity on an issue, the issue is not a moral issue for you; it is a matter of personal taste.","author":"Jonathan Haidt","tags":["diversity","morality"],"id":3687,"author_id":"Jonathan+Haidt"},{"text":"Gossip is a policeman and a teacher. Without it, there would be chaos and ignorance.","author":"Jonathan Haidt","tags":["benefits","gossip"],"id":23801,"author_id":"Jonathan+Haidt"},{"text":"Sacredness binds people together, and then blinds them to the arbitrariness of the practice.","author":"Jonathan Haidt","tags":["morality","sacredness"],"id":29994,"author_id":"Jonathan+Haidt"},{"text":"Those who think money can't buy happiness just don't know where to shop … People would be happier and healthier if they took more time off and spent it with their family and friends, yet America has long been heading in the opposite direction. People would be happier if they reduced their commuting time, even if it meant living in smaller houses, yet American trends are toward even larger houses and ever longer commutes. People would be happier and healthier if they took longer vacations even if that meant earning less, yet vacation times are shrinking in the United States, and in Europe as well. People would be happier, and in the long run and wealthier, if they bought basic functional appliances, automobiles, and wristwatches, and invested the money they saved for future consumption; yet, Americans and in particular spend almost everything they have – and sometimes more – on goods for present consumption, often paying a large premium for designer names and superfluous features.","author":"Jonathan Haidt","tags":["commute","conspicuous-consumption","family","friends","happiness","money","vacation"],"id":33691,"author_id":"Jonathan+Haidt"},{"text":"Intuitions come first, strategic reasoning second.","author":"Jonathan Haidt","tags":["psychology"],"id":63929,"author_id":"Jonathan+Haidt"},{"text":"Asking children to grow virtues hydroponically, looking only within themselves for guidance, is like asking each one to invent a personal language―a pointless and isolating task if there is no community with whom to speak.","author":"Jonathan Haidt","tags":["morality","psychology","virtue"],"id":67320,"author_id":"Jonathan+Haidt"},{"text":"Baumeister's point is that we have a deep need to understand violence and cruelty through what he calls 'the myth of pure evil.' Of this myth's many parts, the most important are that evildoers are pure in their evil motives (they have no motives for their actions beyond sadism and greed); victims are pure in their victimhood (they did nothing to bring about their victimization); and evil comes from outside and is associated with a group or force that attacks our group. Furthermore, anyone who questions the application of the myth, who dares muddy the waters of moral certainty, is in league with evil.","author":"Jonathan Haidt","tags":["evil","myth"],"id":71653,"author_id":"Jonathan+Haidt"},{"text":"Groups create supernatural beings not to explain the universe but to order their societies.","author":"Jonathan Haidt","tags":["psychology","religion"],"id":95709,"author_id":"Jonathan+Haidt"},{"text":"Loyalty, respect for authority and some degree of sanctification create a more binding social order that places some limits on individualism and egoism.","author":"Jonathan Haidt","tags":["culture","harmony","individualism","loyalty","morality","respect","society","values"],"id":145009,"author_id":"Jonathan+Haidt"},{"text":"But if you put individuals together in the right way, such that some individuals can use their reasoning powers to disconfirm the claims of others, and all individuals feel some common bond or shared fate that allows them to interact civilly, you create a group that ends up producing good reasoning as an emergent property of the social system. This is why it's so important to have intellectual \u0026 ideological diversity.","author":"Jonathan Haidt","tags":["politics"],"id":151362,"author_id":"Jonathan+Haidt"}],"pagination":{"page":1,"page_size":10,"total":46,"pages":5,"next":"?page=2\u0026page_size=10"}}