The Righteous Mind

Wish I could've enjoyed it more, but I found it too long and too dry. I'm not sure he knows his target audience: much of what he covers will only be new to the kind of people who wouldn't read his book anyway. That said, I'm glad I persevered. His elephant-and-rider metaphor (for our primitive brain, which pretty much guides our lives, and the neocortex which is often just along for the ride) is useful. His 6-axis classification of morality is elegant and promising. His political suggestions for picking the best from the left, right, and libertarian camps are shockingly close to the political views I've grown to adopt. His “hey, the other side are people too” reminder is welcome.

But I don't feel any closer to achieving a less polarized country. I don't think his message will get through to many people on any side of the rift. In fact, I actually feel much worse: Haidt posits that the Right are strongly aligned on the Loyalty to Authority and to Tribe axes (which the left identify as abhorrent, as do I even though I'm far from left). What Haidt doesn't cover is the corner case where Authority is batshit crazy. A very bad combination: sheep led by wolves. I think we're in trouble.

Couldn't decide between five stars (because of how important this material is) and three (because of my difficulty reading it) so I compromised. If you're the kind of reader who can skim easily, I urge you to pick this up and give that a try. Let me know how it goes.