Social reality is so complicated that, once you join one team or the other, you become specialized in detecting certain patterns, but you become blind to other patterns.
Jonathan HaidtRead
Groups create supernatural beings not to explain the universe but to order their societies.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Societies create gods and myths not for understanding reality but for maintaining social order.
This quote by Jonathan Haidt suggests that the mythological and religious frameworks that groups construct are primarily aimed at establishing and enforcing social cohesion and norms. Rather than serving as mere explanations for natural phenomena, these constructs play a crucial role in organizing human relationships, behaviors, and cultural structures within communities.
Themes
SocietyMythOrderSupernaturalCulture
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the role of religion in society, one might quote Haidt to illustrate how beliefs can serve societal functions.
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When you hear someone criticize a policy on the other side, that's fine. But when you start hearing motive-mongering and demonization, stand up to it just as you would if it were something that was racist or sexist. If we avoid the demonization, disagreements can be positive.
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