--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think sociologists are among the best…" description: "\"I think sociologists are among the best at thinking about emergence, of thinking about the ways that the society is more than the sum of the individual..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b49/jonathan-haidt-1823_anthropology_i-think-sociologists-are-among-the-best_570617.jpg" --- # I think sociologists are among the best at thinking about… ![“I think sociologists are among the best at thinking about emergence, of thinking about the ways that the society is more than the sum of the individuals. And I've found that much of the wisest writing on human social nature comes from sociology and anthropology, not from my own field of social…” quote by Jonathan Haidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b49/jonathan-haidt-1823_anthropology_i-think-sociologists-are-among-the-best_570617.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b49/jonathan-haidt-1823_anthropology_i-think-sociologists-are-among-the-best_570617.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b49/jonathan-haidt-1823_anthropology_i-think-sociologists-are-among-the-best_570617.jpg) > “I think sociologists are among the best at thinking about emergence, of thinking about the ways that the society is more than the sum of the individuals. And I've found that much of the wisest writing on human social nature comes from sociology and anthropology, not from my own field of social psychology.” [Jonathan Haidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-haidt/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Sociology and anthropology provide deeper insights into collective behavior than individual‑focused social psychology, emphasizing emergent societal properties. **In simple terms:** Sociology sees society as more than individuals. Key Takeaway Value interdisciplinary perspectives. Themes emergence collective behavior interdisciplinary sociology anthropology Mood analytical thoughtful Type academic explanatory When to use this quote - research methodology - policy design - community development - education curricula Key Concepts social theory systems thinking Questions to Reflect On - How can social psychology integrate these insights? - What emergent patterns are missed by focusing on individuals? A Different Perspective May overlook individual agency. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anthropology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anthropology/) [Individual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/individual/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Social psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social-psychology/) [Sociologists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sociologists/) [Sociologists Best](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sociologists-best-4710640/) [Sociology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sociology/) [Sociology Anthropology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sociology-anthropology-520769/) [Think Sociologists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-sociologists-4710639/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Wisest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisest/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Before I became a film major, I was very heavily into social science, I had done a lot of sociology, anthropology, and I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lucas/before-i-became-a-film-major-i-was-very-heavily-into-social-science-i/) [George Lucas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lucas/) > [Sociology and anthropology are not disciplines which take easily to situations where people are able to live out their fantasies, not just in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-raban/sociology-and-anthropology-are-not-disciplines-which-take-easily-to/) [Jonathan Raban](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-raban/) > [I love seeing what people are eating. It's a great way of looking at what is similar and what is different about people. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-kurlansky/i-love-seeing-what-people-are-eating-it-s-a-great-way-of-looking-at/) [Mark Kurlansky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-kurlansky/) > [The president is the high priest of what sociologist Robert Bellah calls the 'American civil religion.' The president must invoke the name of God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-haidt/the-president-is-the-high-priest-of-what-sociologist-robert-bellah/) [Jonathan Haidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-haidt/) > [I think the greatest work in social psychology from the 1950s and '60s is enormously important. I wish every high school kid could take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-haidt/i-think-the-greatest-work-in-social-psychology-from-the-1950s-and-60s/) [Jonathan Haidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-haidt/) > [There are relatively few atheists among neurologists and brain surgeons and astrophysicists, but many among psychologists, sociologists, and historians. The reason seems obvious: the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-kreeft/there-are-relatively-few-atheists-among-neurologists-and-brain/) [Peter Kreeft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-kreeft/) > [I once asked my father what he wanted me to be. To my horror, he said, 'sociologist.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-faithfull/i-once-asked-my-father-what-he-wanted-me-to-be-to-my-horror-he-said/) [Marianne Faithfull](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-faithfull/) > [“Most human beings would have never been pained by the death of a human being if they had never seen a human being or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/most-human-beings-would-have-never-been-pained-by-the-death-of-a/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [These terrible sociologists, who are the astrologers and alchemists of our twentieth century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-unamuno/these-terrible-sociologists-who-are-the-astrologers-and-alchemists-of/) [Miguel de Unamuno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-unamuno/) > [What can we surmise about the likelihood of someone's being caring and generous, loving and helpful, just from knowing that they are a believer?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfie-kohn/what-can-we-surmise-about-the-likelihood-of-someone-s-being-caring/) [Alfie Kohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfie-kohn/) > [In my opinion, economists and sociologists are the people to whom we ought to turn more than we do for instruction in the grounds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/in-my-opinion-economists-and-sociologists-are-the-people-to-whom-we/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) > [Indeed, the distribution of wealth is too important an issue to be left to economists, sociologists, historians, and philosophers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-piketty/indeed-the-distribution-of-wealth-is-too-important-an-issue-to-be/) [Thomas Piketty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-piketty/) > [It is not sociologists who provide insights but photographers of our sort who are observers at the very center of their times. I have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brassai/it-is-not-sociologists-who-provide-insights-but-photographers-of-our/) [Brassai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brassai/) > [Men live in a community in virtue of the things which they have in common; and communication is the way in which they come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/men-live-in-a-community-in-virtue-of-the-things-which-they-have-in/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [The quarrel of the sociologists with the historians is that the latter have learned so much about how to do it that they have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-quarrel-of-the-sociologists-with-the-historians-is-that-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Jonathan Haidt > [Love and work are to people what water and sunshine are to plants.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-haidt/love-and-work-are-to-people-what-water-and-sunshine-are-to-plants/) [Jonathan Haidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-haidt/) > [You can see the rider serving the elephant when people are morally dumbfounded. They have strong gut feelings about what is right and wrong,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-haidt/you-can-see-the-rider-serving-the-elephant-when-people-are-morally/) [Jonathan Haidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-haidt/) > [Congress is full of good, decent, smart people who have devoted their lives to public service.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-haidt/congress-is-full-of-good-decent-smart-people-who-have-devoted-their/) [Jonathan Haidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-haidt/) > [Once you understand the power of stimulus control, you can use it to your advantage by changing the stimuli in your environment and avoiding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-haidt/once-you-understand-the-power-of-stimulus-control-you-can-use-it-to/) [Jonathan Haidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-haidt/) > [“The ethic of autonomy is based on the idea that people are, first and foremost, autonomous individuals with wants, needs, and preferences. People should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-haidt/the-ethic-of-autonomy-is-based-on-the-idea-that-people-are-first-and/) [Jonathan Haidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-haidt/) > [I got interested in the American culture war back in 2004, and it's one of the only growth stocks I've ever invested in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-haidt/i-got-interested-in-the-american-culture-war-back-in-2004-and-it-s/) [Jonathan Haidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-haidt/) > [I think of myself as a social scientist. In order to get hired and to get promoted, we're forced to declare a disciplinary and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-haidt/i-think-of-myself-as-a-social-scientist-in-order-to-get-hired-and-to/) [Jonathan Haidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-haidt/) > [“We should not expect individuals to produce good, open-minded, truth-seeking reasoning, particularly when self-interest or reputational concerns are in play. But if you put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-haidt/we-should-not-expect-individuals-to-produce-good-open-minded-truth/) [Jonathan Haidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-haidt/) > [The most powerful force ever known on this planet is human cooperation - a force for construction and destruction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-haidt/the-most-powerful-force-ever-known-on-this-planet-is-human/) [Jonathan Haidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-haidt/) > [It only takes twenty generations of selective breeding to create large differences or appearance and behavior in other mammals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-haidt/it-only-takes-twenty-generations-of-selective-breeding-to-create/) [Jonathan Haidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-haidt/) > [If you think half of America votes badly because they are stupid or religious, you are trapped in a matrix ... Take the red…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-haidt/if-you-think-half-of-america-votes-badly-because-they-are-stupid-or/) [Jonathan Haidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-haidt/) > [“Our minds have the potential to become righteous about many different concerns, and only a few of these concerns are activated during childhood. Other”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-haidt/our-minds-have-the-potential-to-become-righteous-about-many-different/) [Jonathan Haidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-haidt/) > [People who devote their lives to studying something often come to believe that the object of their fascination is the key to understanding everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-haidt/people-who-devote-their-lives-to-studying-something-often-come-to/) [Jonathan Haidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-haidt/) > [“Nonetheless, if you are trying to change an organization or a society and you do not consider the effects of your changes on moral…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-haidt/nonetheless-if-you-are-trying-to-change-an-organization-or-a-society/) [Jonathan Haidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-haidt/) > [If you have a personality predisposed to liberalism, you might gravitate more to the artsy crowd or the anti-establishment crowd. And then those peers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-haidt/if-you-have-a-personality-predisposed-to-liberalism-you-might/) [Jonathan Haidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-haidt/) [Explore all 204 Jonathan Haidt quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-haidt/) ## More Anthropology quotes > [“Marriage," "mating," and "love" are socially constructed phenomena that have little or no transferable meaning outside any given culture. The examples we've noted of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-ryan/marriage-mating-and-love-are-socially-constructed-phenomena-that-have/) [Christopher Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-ryan/) > [ Anthropology has always struggled with an intense, fascinated repulsion towards its subject… \[The anthropologist\] submits himself to the exotic to confirm his own inner… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/anthropology-has-always-struggled-with-an-intense-fascinated/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [“A geneticist is a geek who claims to have proven through regression analyses that a Neanderthal had sex with your great-grandmother 50,000 years ago.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gaede/a-geneticist-is-a-geek-who-claims-to-have-proven-through-regression/) [Bill Gaede](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gaede/) > [Michael Jackson is an extremely productive ethnographer, a serious reader of phenomenological and existential philosophy, and a remarkable writer at a level that one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-kleinman/michael-jackson-is-an-extremely-productive-ethnographer-a-serious/) [Arthur Kleinman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-kleinman/) > [Archaeology is the anthropology of the past, and science fiction is the anthropology of the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-d-vinge/archaeology-is-the-anthropology-of-the-past-and-science-fiction-is/) [Joan D. Vinge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-d-vinge/) > [Modern anthropology ... opposes the utilitarian assumption that the primitive chants as he sows seed because he believes that otherwise it will not grow,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-carroll/modern-anthropology-opposes-the-utilitarian-assumption-that-the/) [John Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-carroll/) > [For me, a bit of anthropology in the evening is always better than staying and watching the telly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-rhodes/for-me-a-bit-of-anthropology-in-the-evening-is-always-better-than/) [Nick Rhodes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-rhodes/) > [When you ask why did some particular question occur to a scientist or philosopher for the first time, or why did this particular approach…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-goldstein/when-you-ask-why-did-some-particular-question-occur-to-a-scientist-or/) [Rebecca Goldstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-goldstein/) > [I didn't major in anthropology in college, but I do feel I had an education in different cultures very early on. My parents divorced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lily-king/i-didn-t-major-in-anthropology-in-college-but-i-do-feel-i-had-an/) [Lily King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lily-king/) > [Anthropology is the only discipline that can access evidence about the entire human experience on this planet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-brian-schiffer/anthropology-is-the-only-discipline-that-can-access-evidence-about/) [Michael Brian Schiffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-brian-schiffer/) > [“All social interactions require some loss of freedom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erol-ozan/all-social-interactions-require-some-loss-of-freedom/) [Erol Ozan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erol-ozan/) > [“Morphological anthropology applied to the physical study of children, is also a strong element in the growth of the new pedagogy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/montessori-maria/morphological-anthropology-applied-to-the-physical-study-of-children/) [Montessori Maria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/montessori-maria/) > [There are savages without God in any proper sense of the word, but none without ghosts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-are-savages-without-god-in-any-proper-sense-of-the-word-but/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Anthropology was the science that gave her the platform from which she surveyed, scolded and beamed at the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-howard/anthropology-was-the-science-that-gave-her-the-platform-from-which/) [Jane Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-howard/) > [It's always amusing to look at how something early in the 20th century was written in anthropology and how it's written now. There's been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifford-geertz/it-s-always-amusing-to-look-at-how-something-early-in-the-20th/) [Clifford Geertz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifford-geertz/) [Browse all 286 Anthropology quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anthropology/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I think sociologists are among the best at thinking about emergence, of thinking about the ways that the society is more than the sum of the individuals. And I've found that much of the wisest writing on human social nature comes from sociology and anthropology, not from my own field of social psychology.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jonathan Haidt" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-haidt/i-think-sociologists-are-among-the-best-at-thinking-about-emergence/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Anthropology" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-haidt/i-think-sociologists-are-among-the-best-at-thinking-about-emergence/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b49/jonathan-haidt-1823_anthropology_i-think-sociologists-are-among-the-best_570617.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b49/jonathan-haidt-1823_anthropology_i-think-sociologists-are-among-the-best_570617.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b49/jonathan-haidt-1823_anthropology_i-think-sociologists-are-among-the-best_570617.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I think sociologists are among the best at thinking about emergence, of thinking about the ways that the…” — Jonathan Haidt", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Jonathan Haidt", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-haidt/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I think sociologists are among the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-haidt/i-think-sociologists-are-among-the-best-at-thinking-about-emergence/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-haidt/i-think-sociologists-are-among-the-best-at-thinking-about-emergence/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```