Kevin Simler and Robin Hanson's 2018 book arguing that human behavior is primarily driven by hidden self-interested motives — status, signaling, dominance — that we systematically deny and rationalize as altruistic.
Applies evolutionary signaling theory to systematically explain human behavior in education, medicine, charity, politics, and religion as primarily status-seeking activities dressed in altruistic language — extending Robin Hanson's previous work on medicine and education.
No recorded minds influenced.
No conceptual posterity found.
Discussing
Ask anything about The Elephant in the Brain — their ideas, influences, contradictions, legacy.
Sign in to start a conversation.