“feelings are “false” or perhaps “illusory” if they lead the organism astray—” — Robert Wright Feelings Copy Share Image
“realizing you’re not king can be the first step toward getting some real power.” — Robert Wright First step Copy Share Image
“feelings are “true” if the judgments they encode are accurate” — Robert Wright Feelings Copy Share Image
“A female in a high-MPI species may seek signs of generosity, trustworthiness, and, especially, an enduring commitment to her in particular.” — Robert Wright Female Copy Share Image
“Fuel efficiency is reducing the fund’s income per mile driven and the average number of miles driven per person has declined.” — Robert Wright Driving Copy Share Image
“There’s no doubt that meditation training has allowed some people to become essentially indifferent to what otherwise would have been unbearable pain.” — Robert Wright Fitness Copy Share Image
“There is in the world today a great and mysterious force that shapes the fortunes of millions of people. It is called… — Robert Wright Customer Copy Share Image
“natural selection didn’t design your mind to see the world clearly; it designed your mind to have perceptions and beliefs that would… — Robert Wright Evolution Copy Share Image
“The thirteenth-century Sufi poet Rumi is said to have written, “Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek… — Robert Wright Love Copy Share Image
Religion is a feature of cultural evolution that, among other things, addresses anxieties created by cultural evolution; it helps keep social change… — Robert Wright Copy Share Image
“Sensual pleasures are the whip natural selection uses to control us, to keep us in the thrall of its warped values system.” — Robert Wright Natural selection Copy Share Image
Understanding the often unconscious nature of genetic control is the first step toward understanding that—in many realms, not just sex—we’re all puppets,… — Robert Wright Evolution Copy Share Image
Humans have various ways of coping with extended stress, and one is the anticipation of a better time. Here, as with retribution,… — Robert Wright Copy Share Image
Your brain may give birth to any technology, but other brains will decide whether the technology thrives. The number of possible technologies… — Robert Wright Affinity Copy Share Image
“Our entire notion of good and bad, our whole landscape of feelings—fear, lust, love, and the many other feelings, salient and subtle,… — Robert Wright Feelings Copy Share Image
Actually, there is a sense in which polygynous marriage has not been the historical norm - even where polygyny is permitted, multiple… — Robert Wright Evolution Copy Share Image
“The idea is that human culture as broadly defined--art, politics, technology, religion, and so on--evolves in much the way biological species evolve:… — Robert Wright Change Copy Share Image
Maybe the growth of "God" signifies the existence of God. That is: if history naturally pushes people toward moral improvement, toward moral… — Robert Wright Copy Share Image
We're all puppets, and our best hope for even partial liberation is to try to decipher the logic of the puppeteer. Just… — Robert Wright Agendas Copy Share Image
“The believers believe there’s something out there—some “thing” in some sense of the word “thing”—that corresponds to the word “electron”; and that,… — Robert Wright Copy Share Image
“What causes all the hatred? At some level, it’s always the same thing: human beings operating under the influence of human brains… — Robert Wright Copy Share Image
If war can indeed be turned into a relic, then the virtue of greed will recede further. From a given society's standpoint,… — Robert Wright Acquisition Copy Share Image
Whereas modern cynicism brought despair about the ability of the human species to realize laudable ideals, postmodern cynicism doesn't — not because… — Robert Wright Ability Copy Share Image
In the great non zero sum games of history, if you're part of the problem, then you'll likely be a victim of… — Robert Wright Games Copy Share Image
“Human nature consists of knobs and of mechanisms for tuning the knobs, and both are invisible in their own way.” — Robert Wright Human nature Copy Share Image
“happiness comes down to choosing between the discomfort of becoming aware of your mental afflictions and the discomfort of being ruled by… — Robert Wright Happiness Copy Share Image
“As Kurzban has summarized this finding, “We think we’re better than average at not being biased in thinking that we’re better than… — Robert Wright Copy Share Image
“William James wrote in The Varieties of Religious Experience that religion “consists of the belief that there is an unseen order, and… — Robert Wright Faith Copy Share Image
Next time you see an unblemished expanse of grass, think about the chemicals that probably got dumped in your vicinity to create… — Robert Wright Copy Share Image
Like a lawyer, the human brain wants victory, not truth; and, like a lawyer, it is sometimes more admirable for skill than… — Robert Wright Copy Share Image
...human beings are a species splendid in their array of moral equipment, tragic in their propensity to misuse it, and pathetic in… — Robert Wright Copy Share Image
“What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?" asked the Christian theologian Tertullian... Having received the revealed thruth via Christ, "we want no… — Robert Wright Jerusalem Copy Share Image
Corruption is knowing when something is not being done, knowing when the American people are being left unprotected and when you make… — Robert Wright American people Copy Share Image
“When monogamy is found in subsistence-level cultures, Alexander calls it “ecologically imposed.” When it appears in more affluent, more stratified cultures, he… — Robert Wright Monogamy Copy Share Image
If two people stare at each other for more than a few seconds, it means they are about to either make love… — Robert Wright Community Copy Share Image
Think of it : zillions and zillions of organisms running around, each under the hypnotic spell of a single truth, all these… — Robert Wright Absurdity Copy Share Image
