Lessons from Robert Wright

Robert Wright, a prominent author and thinker, has explored a wide range of subjects including evolutionary psychology, religion, history, and the future of humanity. His work is characterized by a search for the deep-seated reasons for human behavior and the trajectory of our social and moral development.

Key Learnings from Robert Wright

Robert Wright's work offers a comprehensive framework for understanding human nature and the direction of history. Here are some of the central learnings from his books and lectures:

Evolutionary Psychology and the Human Condition: Wright argues that our minds were shaped by natural selection, not to see the world clearly, but to survive and reproduce. This means many of our feelings and intuitions are not reliable guides to truth or happiness. [1][2] Our brains are often like lawyers, designed for victory and self-justification rather than objective truth. [3][4] This evolutionary inheritance is the source of much of our modern-day angst and delusion.
The "Non-Zero-Sum" Dynamic of History: In his book Nonzero, Wright posits that history has a direction, driven by the logic of "non-zero-sum games." [5][6] These are situations where cooperation can lead to mutual benefit. He argues that as technology and social organization have become more complex, the scope of these non-zero-sum interactions has expanded, pushing humanity towards greater interdependence and, potentially, greater moral progress. [7][8]
The Evolution of God and Religion: Wright contends that the character of gods and religious beliefs has evolved in response to changing social and political circumstances. [8][9] As societies grew and became more interconnected, the concept of God often became more universal and morally expansive. [7][10] He suggests that religion can be a tool for both conflict and cooperation, and its expression often depends on whether people perceive their relationships with others as zero-sum or non-zero-sum. [8][11]
Secular Buddhism as a Path to Clarity: In Why Buddhism is True, Wright makes a case for the practical and philosophical value of secular Buddhism and mindfulness meditation. [12][13] He argues that Buddhist practices can help us see through the illusions created by our evolutionary programming, leading to greater clarity, compassion, and a more accurate perception of reality. [4][12] By observing our thoughts and feelings without judgment, we can gain a critical distance from them and reduce their power over us. [1][3]
The Challenge of Modern Life: Wright emphasizes that our modern environment is radically different from the one in which our minds evolved. [14] This mismatch creates new challenges, such as the anxieties fueled by social media and the potential for global-scale conflict. He advocates for a "mindful resistance" to the more destructive impulses of our nature and our current political climate, urging for cognitive empathy and a focus on solving shared problems. [15][16]

From The Moral Animal: Why We Are the Way We Are

"Human beings are a species splendid in their array of moral equipment, tragic in their propensity to misuse it, and pathetic in their ignorance of the misuse." [17][18]
"Like a lawyer, the human brain wants victory, not truth; and, like a lawyer, it is sometimes more admirable for skill than virtue." [3][17]
"We are built to be effective animals, not happy ones." [17][19]
"Sensual pleasures are the whip natural selection uses to control us, to keep us in the thrall of its warped values system." [3][20]
"We're all puppets, and our best hope for even partial liberation is to try to decipher the logic of the puppeteer." [17]
"Lasting love is something a person has to decide to experience. Lifelong monogamous devotion is just not natural—not for women even, and emphatically not for men. It requires what, for lack of a better term, we can call an act of will." [4][20]
"Altruism, compassion, empathy, love, conscience, the sense of justice—all of these things, the things that hold society together...can now confidently be said to have a firm genetic basis." [20]
"Being a person's true friend means endorsing the untruths he holds dearest." [3][17]
"The sages may have been self-serving, like the rest of us, but that doesn't mean they weren't sages." [19][20]
"Whatever makes any bad action familiar to the mind, renders its performance by so much the easier." [21][22]
"Such as are thy habitual thoughts, such also will be the character of thy mind; for the soul is dyed by the thoughts." [21][22]

From Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny

"In the great non-zero-sum games of history, if you're part of the problem, then you'll likely be a victim of the solution." [3][17]
"Your brain may give birth to any technology, but other brains will decide whether the technology thrives. The number of possible technologies is infinite, and only a few pass this test of affinity with human nature." [3][17]
"If two people stare at each other for more than a few seconds, it means they are about to either make love or fight. Something similar might be said about human societies." [4][17]
"If two nearby societies are in contact for any length of time, they will either trade or fight. The first is non-zero-sum social integration, and the second ultimately brings it." [4][17]
"Human nature is a stubborn thing. But it isn't beyond control. Even if our core impulses can't be banished, they can be tempered and redirected." [17]
"The endless impetus of cultural evolution has pushed society through several thresholds over the past 20,000 years. And now it is pushing society through another one." [5]

From The Evolution of God

"The idea is that human culture as broadly defined--art, politics, technology, religion, and so on--evolves in much the way biological species evolve." [9]
"William James wrote in The Varieties of Religious Experience that religion 'consists of the belief that there is an unseen order, and that our supreme good lies in harmoniously adjusting ourselves thereto.'" [3][9]
"Religion is a feature of cultural evolution that, among other things, addresses anxieties created by cultural evolution; it helps keep social change safe from itself." [3][17]
"Maybe the growth of 'God' signifies the existence of God." [17]
"We enter these alliances almost without thinking about it, because our genetically based emotions draw us in. We feel gratitude for a favor received, along with a sense of obligation, which may lead us to return the favor." [9]
"The moral progress that Wright sees at work in history and in religious texts, he argues, might be evidence of a 'higher purpose' — what some people call the divine or God." [10]
"It was the apostle Paul, not Jesus, who saw the advantage of preaching universal love that crosses national and ethnic boundaries — the better to spread the movement across the Roman empire." [10]
"There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus." [23]

From Why Buddhism is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment

"Buddha believed that the less you judge things—including the contents of your mind—the more clearly you'll see them, and the less deluded you'll be." [4][12]
"Natural selection didn't design your mind to see the world clearly; it designed your mind to have perceptions and beliefs that would help take care of your genes." [1][12]
"Ultimately, happiness comes down to choosing between the discomfort of becoming aware of your mental afflictions and the discomfort of being ruled by them." [12]
"The conscious self doesn't create thoughts; it receives them." [4][12]
"Imagine if our negative feelings, or at least lots of them, turned out to be illusions, and we could dispel them by just contemplating them from a particular vantage point." [3][4]
"In fact, one big lesson from Buddhism is to be suspicious of the intuition that your ordinary way of perceiving the world brings you the truth about it." [3][4]
"It is the study of how the human brain was designed – by natural selection – to mislead us, even enslave us." [3]
"We are designed to feel that the next great goal will bring bliss, and the bliss is designed to evaporate shortly after we get there. Natural selection has a malicious sense of humor; it leads us along with a series of promises and then keeps saying 'Just kidding.'" [3]
"The Buddha said anger has a 'poisoned root and honeyed tip.'" [3]
"This is something that can happen again and again via meditation: accepting, even embracing, an unpleasant feeling can give you a critical distance." [3]
"The Dalai Lama has said, 'Don't try to use what you learn from Buddhism to be a better Buddhist; use it to be a better whatever-you-already-are.'" [3]
"Buddhist thought and modern psychology converge on this point: in human life as it's ordinarily lived, there is no one self, no conscious CEO, that runs the show; rather, there seem to be a series of selves that take turns running the show." [13]
"Feelings are, among other things, your brain's way of labeling the importance of thoughts." [1]
"Ownership of even serious pain is, strictly speaking, optional." [1]
"The belief in a 'self' is considered by all Buddhists as an indispensable condition to the emergence of suffering." [1]
"Things come with stories. And the stories, whether true or false, shape how we feel about the things, and thus shape the things themselves." [1]

From Interviews, Lectures, and Other Writings

"I see a unity in my books that maybe is not evident to anyone else... that's a big theme with me." (from a YouTube interview) [11]
"Evolutionary psychology is very central to my book. My view is that a lot of the illusions that Buddhism aims to dispel are in some sense built into us by natural selection and explained by evolutionary psychology." (from an interview with the Secular Buddhist Network) [2]
"I do believe there is some sort of larger purpose at work. Although I'm not sure." (from a Princeton Alumni Weekly article) [10]
"The idea was let's approach the resistance more mindfully... I do think mindfulness meditation can equip one to deal with the world with a kind of equanimity that pays off both in terms of peace of mind and in terms of tactics and soundly executed strategy." (from a YouTube interview) [16]
"Jesus is not from Georgia. Jesus does not speak English. And Jesus is not a member of the NRA." [3]
"We think we're better than average at not being biased in thinking that we're better than average." [3]
"The notion that science and spirituality are somehow mutually exclusive does a disservice to both." [14]
"I don't think it happens very often that the truth sets you free. Sometimes it's the other way around: Freedom lets you see the truth." [1]
"The world is set up in a way to drive people toward — I would say not just moral progress but something you could call moral truth." (from an interview on OnBeing) [7]

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