Video: Why we Fight about Morality

Humans as prey, and the evolution of morality

Normally, we do long-form posts, but we break this trend with a quick update. Freethink and Standtogether made a short movie about our work, where I discuss the harm-based nature of our moral minds, how it creates division, and how we can find common ground. Check it out here:

This interview covers some of the content in my forthcoming book, “Outraged: Why We Fight About Morality and Politics,” which will be published in 2025. The core claim of the book:

We all share a common harm-based moral mind, which we inherited from millions of years of avoiding predators. The threat of harm continues to drive our moral convictions, but today we disagree about who or what is most vulnerable to victimization and which harms are real versus only imagined.

I was also on the podcast Hidden Brain and we’ll be posting about that soon!