Jonathan Haidt - Elephant and Rider Metaphor

Elephant and Rider Metaphor

The observations of Social intuitionism, that intuitions come first and rationalization second, led to the Elephant and Rider Metaphor. The rider represents the conscious controlled processes and the elephant represents all of the automatic processes. The metaphor corresponds to Daniel Kahneman's Thinking, Fast and Slow. This metaphor is used extensively in both The Happiness Hypothesis and The Righteous Mind.

Read more about this topic:  Jonathan Haidt

Famous quotes containing the words elephant, rider and/or metaphor:

    The elephant hath joints, but none for courtesy; his legs are legs for necessity, not for flexure.
    William Shakespeare (1564–1616)

    Came to Ajanta cave, the painted space of the breast,
    the real world where everything is complete,
    there are no shadows, the forms of incompleteness,
    The great cloak blows in the light, rider and horse arrive,
    the shoulders turn and every gift is made.
    Muriel Rukeyser (1913–1980)

    A black boxer’s career is the perfect metaphor for the career of a black male. Every day is like being in the gym, sparring with impersonal opponents as one faces the rudeness and hostility that a black male must confront in the United States, where he is the object of both fear and fascination.
    Ishmael Reed (b. 1938)