{"id":74688,"date":"2022-07-27T11:30:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-27T15:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=74688"},"modified":"2022-08-08T12:10:41","modified_gmt":"2022-08-08T16:10:41","slug":"human-motives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/human-motives\/","title":{"rendered":"Human Motives: Why We Hide Our True Reasons"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What are your true reasons for doing what you do? What do you want people to think your reasons are?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In The Elephant in the Brain<\/em>, software engineer Kevin Simler and economics professor Robin Hanson controversially argue that human behavior is driven by selfish motives\u2014and that your own brain is hiding them from you. They contend that humans evolved to appear selfless even as they put themselves before others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more for this intriguing discussion about human motives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Human Motives Are Selfish<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At first glance, the idea of hidden human motives may seem convoluted\u2014why hide our true intentions not just from others, but from ourselves? The answer, according to Simler and Hanson, is that, as a cooperative social species, we evolved to advance our own interests while appearing as selfless as possible<\/strong>\u2014and it\u2019s easier to deceive others if we\u2019ve already deceived ourselves. We\u2019ll explore how human life is organized around a set of social games <\/em>and how our hidden selfish motives help us get ahead in these games. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We Excel at Social Games<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Simler and Hanson believe hidden selfish motives are an evolutionary adaptation. They argue that the human brain evolved to excel simultaneously at selfishness and cooperation<\/strong>. The authors observe that humans are a fundamentally social species\u2014we depend on cooperation to survive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They point out that humans began as foragers\u2014small nomadic bands who depended on each other\u2019s help to find and share food, care for the sick and injured, and defend the band from predators and rival humans. They argue that this kind of cooperation requires an egalitarian culture\u2014if any one individual or clique tries to dominate the group, they\u2019ll ruin life for everyone. At the same time, individuals in these groups compete with each other for resources, mates, and social influence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Evolutionary Basis of Altruism<\/strong>

Biologists, anthropologists, and historians have long debated the origins of altruism. From an evolutionary standpoint, why should we help others when those others might be our rivals for resources, territory, and mates? There are no clear answers, but plenty of theories.

For example, biologist Richard Dawkins believes that cooperation and altruism are selfish\u2014but for different reasons than the ones Simler and Hanson describe. In The Selfish Gene<\/em><\/a>, Hawkins argues that genes are the driving force of life and that cooperation at the organism and species level is merely one strategy by which genes maximize their chances of replicating<\/a> themselves. In other words, in family groups and close-knit societies (like small foraging<\/a> groups), genes \u201cknow\u201d that copies of themselves exist in an organism\u2019s relatives and offspring. If an individual dies saving the rest of his family, that individual\u2019s genes survive and have more chances to reproduce themselves. 

On the other side of the spectrum, in Humankind<\/em><\/a>, historian Rutger Bregman argues that humans are inherently compassionate and cooperative. He also points to the egalitarianism of foraging societies, but unlike Simler and Hanson, he concludes that human nature is fundamentally altruistic and that competitive impulses are a secondary invention. Specifically, he argues that violence, jealousy, and inequality only appeared with the advent of farming, private property, and other trappings of civilization<\/a>. 

Meanwhile, zoological research increasingly points to the fact that altruism isn\u2019t uniquely human. According to a popular legend, anthropologist Margaret Mead cited a healed femur as the start of civilization. The story might not be true<\/a>\u2014but it points to a shared belief that our capacity to act selflessly by helping an injured group member is what sets us apart from other animals. Yet chimpanzees have been observed treating each other\u2019s wounds while other animals have been seen medicating themselves with plants<\/a> (and learning to do so by watching others). <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Because of the tension between selfishness and altruism, Simler and Hanson argue that the human brain evolved to play <\/strong>social games<\/em><\/strong>\u2014competitions that require balancing self-interest with cooperation<\/strong>. Social games typically revolve around three main goals:<\/p>\n\n\n\n