Chapter Nine: Why Are We So Groupish? Summary and Analysis

It is natural for us to lie and cheat when we can get away with it and then apply moralistic reasoning after the fact to justify our actions and transform what seemed to be a flaw into a virtue. Moral psychology is fundamentally a form of enlightened self-interest. It's Darwin's law of natural selection at the individual level. Our righteous minds were shaped by kin selection, reciprocal altruism and external pressures.

Although man is basically consumed with self-interest, he likes to join teams and clubs. He likes to be part of something more than himself. This tendency for man to group made the way for political parties and religious sects. But a group is an extension of self and while man is filled with self-interest, there is a transference...