Next Week in EvoS: Jonathan Haidt on Hive psychology and the moral life of Homo Duplex

On Monday April 16, 2012, Jonathan Haidt, professor of social psychology at the University of Virginia, will present Hive psychology and the moral life of Homo Duplex. The talk is at 5:00 pm in AA-G008. Here is the abstract:

Emile Durkheim described human beings as “Homo duplex,” or “two-level
man.” The lower level is the level of the profane—the level of
ordinary consciousness and self-interested pursuits.  The higher level
is the level of the sacred at which we lose our petty selves and
become simply a part of a larger whole.  Charles Darwin believed that
morality evolved by multi-level selection, and that some of our
virtues evolved because they conferred an advantage upon our groups.
In this talk I’ll put Durkheim and Darwin together. I’ll suggest that
we are Homo duplex precisely because we evolved by multi-level
selection. I’ll then describe the “hive switch,” which is an
off-switch for the self. I’ll describe some applications of “hive
psychology” in daily life, including sports and business.

Posted on Wednesday, April 18th, 2012 in News by EvoS.