Why do our moral beliefs lead to dissention?

1. Why do our moral beliefs lead to dissention?

2. Election results and comments

3. 90% chimp and 10% bee • What does he mean by this? • Flag sticker on car (overgeneralization?) • Is there group selection? • What is the free rider problem? • How can we get around it, according to Haidt? • Can animals be altruistic? Can we (and according to whom)? • Is this true for all people or just weird people?

4. Multilevel selection • What evidence does Haidt give for multilevel selection? Why does this concept matter? • Major transitions in evolution produce superorganisms • Shared intentionality leads to shared moral foundations • Genes and culture co-evolve (Richerson & Boyd’s tribal instincts hypothesis) • Evolution can be fast

5. The “hive switch” • How can we activate the hive switch according to Haidt? • What are other things that make us more groupcentric? • How does our biology get involved? • How does hiving relate to liberalism/conservatism? Do they have the same hives? • What does Haidt suggest for making groups more productive?

6. Religion • How is religion hivey? • How are sports like religion? • What is the function of religion, according to Haidt? • How does Atran and Henrich’s approach differ from that of the “new atheists”? • Why is religion better (or is it) than other ways of bringing people together and promoting social control? • “Religion is therefore often an accessory to atrocity, rather than the driving force of the atrocity.” p. 268 • “Societies that forgo the exoskeleton of religion should reflect carefully on what will happen to them over several generations…the first atheistic societies in Europe…are the least efficient societies ever known at turning resources…into offspring…” p. 269

7. Definition of moral systems • “Moral systems are interlocking sets of values, virtues, norms, practices, identities, institutions, technologies, and evolved psychological mechanisms that work together to suppress or regulate self-interest and make cooperative societies possible.” p. 270

8. Back to politics • Have we grown further apart? Why? • Again Block is miscited! • What are McAdams’s 3 levels of personality? • How does Haidt’s use of McAdams’s research to explain political orientation mesh with other research we’ve read this semester? • Why does Haidt claim that it is easier for conservatives to understand liberals than vice versa? What evidence does he give? • How does Haidt define conservatism? How is that similar to or different from other definitions we’ve read this semester? • Why and when do liberals develop only 3 foundations? • Are 3 foundations really worse than 6?

9. Moral capital • “the degree to which a community possesses interlocking sets of values, virtues, norms, practices, identities, institutions, and technologies that mesh well with evolved psychological mechanisms and thereby enable the community to suppress or regulate selfishness and make cooperation possible” p. 292 • Liberals fail to consider effects of reforms on moral capital—examples? • Conservatives fail to notice some victims and limit powerful institutions and resist change. • Corporations as superorganisms? • What are libertarians, according to Haidt’s research? • Health insurance vs. free market

10. Solutions? • What does Haidt offer as solutions to an increasingly divided US? • The “numbers lady”

11. Critiques of Haidt’s book

12. Next week and upcoming • 3 readings (click on links) plus find an article on media and politics to informally present; test questions out • Thanksgiving • Automatic effects plus multimedia due • Exam • Finals week, Wed night same time: Group project presentations; Discussion of multimedia projects