The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion 1st Edition, Kindle Edition

I've read a lot of books in my life. Psychology, Poetry, Biology, Business Theory, Self-Help, Nutrition, Economics and so many other subjects are represented in my home library.

The Righteous Mind is hands-down the most important book I've ever consumed. Haidt's understanding of human morality and the science of communication and decision making are weaved together into an approachable, beautiful and potentially life changing symphony.

Enough has been said about why you should read this book so I want to use the rest of this review to tell you exactly what I experienced after finishing this book and how it became "The most important thing I've ever read".

I have struggled for years to communicate with some of my friends and family. So many words were wasted discussing politics, religion and conspiracy theories and all we ever accomplished was self-fulfillment. We never had resolution and we never succeeded in convincing the other side.

I'm a person who considers myself well-read and a champion for pragmatism and logic. You can probably imagine how frustrated I felt when I was consistently unable to win arguments about out-there, government's coming for us-so buy some guns, conspiracy discussions.

Something had to give, so I went searching and ended up on this book. I read it, digested it and decided to try and apply the principles to my communications. I was determined to "align with their elephant" first so I could then shift their mindset to my point of view.

Let's be honest: I was just trying to manipulate other people into seeing things my way.

Well, something incredible and completely unintentional happened: I realized I was wrong, a lot.

One of the foundational pieces discussed in the book is the fact that we, as humans, make decisions in the parts of our brain that aren't subject to critical thinking. If you want to sway someones opinion, Haidt suggests, you must first appeal to their elephant (the emotional part of their brain or "why they feel the way they do").

In the effort to start practicing this: I dedicated myself to asking "why do they believe this way?" first and only made suggestions after I felt that I could articulate what the other person was "feeling" about the subject.

A crazy thing happened: many times I would find myself changing my mind about a subject mid conversation. As it turns out, other people aren't quite as crazy as I thought, they just have different experiences than I do.

After I spent some time training my brain, I started to conversate this way without any conscious effort. I actually seem to have re-wired my brain. The implication of this can't be overstated.

I now see the world in completely different ways and I feel that I can actually empathize for the first time in my life.

I only wish everyone could read this book, understand their natural decision making process and be aware of what's happening to them when they have disagreements or strong opinions on a subject.

You need to read this book. Everyone does.

To the author: Thank you, Jonathan, for giving your life to understanding us a little better and for taking the time to write it all down and pass these lessons onto the rest of us.

Excellent read. Made me think about a lot of cultural and social factors I would never have considered. I lean toward "liberal" idealogies, but this book made me realize the value of a more diverse perspective for the survival of the human race and how my anti-religious viewpoints had incorporated "sacred" elements of their own. Subsequently, a few of my liberal views which I would not allow to be challenged in my own mind, I am now open to considering broader implications. In summary, this book moved a few of my black and white viewpoints back into the gray and was unexpectedly life changing for me.

This book was stressful for me to read because I really wanted to keep not liking the people I don't agree with. Challenge you to consider that those who do not agree with are not necessarily the devil. I will continue to refer to this in the future in my work as a therapist and minister.

This year's political campaign has impacted me on an emotional level more than any campaign in my lifetime. I am one of the millions of middle of the road, non-partisan American's who is shocked and appalled by the quality or lack thereof in the two major parties.

While trying to wrap my mind and heart around how America could have fallen to this depth a friend recommended Haidt's book to me. I began an engrossing read rediscovering mine and other people's humanity as I did so.

Finding myself honoring and listening to my "elephant" as it reacts to media messages, friends positions on a variety of ideas, not only religion and politics. Not finished with the book, because I am savoring a long, deep read while stopping frequently to take my own temperature on the ideas in it. Wanted to add a review in case anyone is on the fence.

Should be required reading from high school on up. A simplified version should be available everywhere and coupled with education on EQ.

People's ideas might or might not change, but at least we would all understand why we feel and think the way we do!