The Moral Animal

I thought I had a reasonable handle on why people do what they do. This book added a whole layer I hadn't considered.

Wright applies evolutionary biology to human psychology — jealousy, status-seeking, generosity, depression — and argues that many of our most powerful drives are adaptations that made evolutionary sense long before they became problems in a modern world.

The chapter on reciprocal altruism was the part that shifted me most. The idea that generosity is rarely as pure as we like to believe — and that understanding the mechanism behind it doesn't make it less meaningful.

Dense, but rewarding. One of those books that changes what you notice about yourself and the people around you.