Disclaimer
As I am writing this takeaway, I am aware that I am not quite experienced at writing such content, this is my first such article, and I hope this can be of quite a bit of utilization to other individuals
This takeaway does contain spoilers from the book
Stuff I am taking away from the book
The major value of Heidt's work to me comes from my relation it - to me, atleast
To a certain degree, quite a few of Heidt's points in the book do "intuitively" connect with me very well,
At the start of Heidt's book, Heidt does give a notion of the human mind as the "Rider" and the "Elephant", the Elephant being close to automated processes and habits we have, and the "Rider" being the conscious self
My major take away from this book is that I need to control the elephant, more than consciously choosing the right thing, i.e. controlling the rider - although, that is indeed important too
Ideas such as meditation and cognitive behavioral therapy let the rider "train" the elephant into being calmer, not chasing after resources that seem tempting, but rather of ideas that will actually help the individual as a whole
Jonathan also gets into - our lack of knowledge as human beings quite significantly on the book, how, we often post-facto reason quite significantly, or have poor evidence to hold up to on our claims - this, when coupled with our push towards seeing the faults of others further than our own faults - ends up harming relationships, because we aren't able to see our own faults, see where we might have gone wrong,
Though you see the seven defects of others, we do not see our own ten defects. (Japanese proverb)
- Haidt, Jonathan. The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom (p. 92). Basic Books. Kindle Edition.
or, maybe - and this is an extrapolation, and jonathan doesn't explicitly say this, but my therapist did - maybe it doesn't matter who is right or wrong, maybe all that matters is trying to reach a compromise with someone else, and finding a way to make things work out with other people ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Jonathan also posits looking at other human beings and everything else from a more optimistic angle, and how that can be a huge motivation towards actually following through and doing things to go further
Lastly, Jonathan's arguments towards altruism, and a rejection of temporary happiness measures (such as buying that big car, or rolex watch) - and push towards virtue ethics (ethics are a habit - i.e. on the elephant, not the rider), did make alot of sense to me holistically and are important points I do take away from this additionally
Things I wish Jonathan would look into more
like I said, this is my first "book takeaway" article, but I really do wish psychologists studying the Indian culture looked further into the caste system and spoke more to individuals from lower-caste backgrounds, and multiple backgrounds in India, in my experience, well - from reading 2 psychology books (this, and polysecure) - I do wish both Jonathan and Jessica Fern would look into writings from individuals of lower caste backgrounds to be able to get a more holistic portrait of Hinduism
Overall
I loved the book, I might refine this review in the future, or not, not sure, I think this book has made me aware of quite a few aspects of human behavior that do help me guide and choose the path I wish to choose better
I do appreciate the effort Jon made into writing this book alot, thanku :)