New York, 1994
In a pathbreaking, revelatory book, Robert Wright–senior editor at The New Republic–demonstrates the relevance of evolutionary psychology to everyday life, and challenges us to see ourselves, for better or worse, under its clarifying lens.
[T]he roots of all evil can be seen in natural selection, and are expressed (along with much that is good) in human nature. The enemy of justice and decency does indeed lie in our genes.
[L]ong-term happiness, however appealing they may find it, is not really what [humans] are designed to maximize.
All told, the Darwinian notion of the unconscious is more radical than the Freudian one. The sources of self-deception are more numerous, diverse, and deeply rooted, and the line between conscious and unconscious is less clear.
It is surprising to see such a warm, mushy idea—brotherly love—grow out of a word as cold and clinical as “utilitarianism.” But it shouldn’t be. Brotherly love is implicit in the standard formulations of utilitarianism—maximum total happiness, the greatest good for the greatest number. In other words: everyone’s happiness counts equally; you are not priviledged, and you shouldn’t act as if you are.