The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Of course that's how it works! So anyone familiar with philosophical and political history would exclaim, as the social scientist finally realizes (or admits) how human nature works. Did we need a moral psychologist to tell us that politics is, above all, a team sport? Did we need so many studies to tell us that you can't reason with a Yankees fan?
Maybe.
In an age when mere opposition to any accepted idea simply cannot be countenanced by its adherents, maybe we did need this reminder. Well-intentioned people may disagree about things that matter, and that's ok. Better to reason together than to declare war.
On that note, this book seems true because throughout, the author admits his biases, prefaces his arguments by identifying, charitably, his opponents, and reserves his harshest words for those on his own side. This is the rhetoric of the truly persuasive.