Spite: The Upside of Your Dark Side

by Simon McCarthy-Jones

• ISBN10: 1541646991
• ISBN13: 9781541646995
• Publish Date: 13 April 2021 (first published 22 October 2020)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Basic Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 272
• Language: English

Reviews

[Jeff Sexton]

You've Heard Of The Imitation Game. Meet The Ultimatum Game. McCarthy-Jones does a phenomenal job in this text of analyzing what exactly spite - which he defines as a behavior that harms both oneself and the other - is, why it is seemingly necessary for human advancement, how it seems to have come to be, and even some of the biological bases of the behavior. In the process, he gives some startling and many times counter-intuitive insights on how exactly spite manifests, often using a tool developed in the 1970s called The Ultimatum Game as the basis of the science. Both a fascinating and disturbing book, this could potentially provide saavy operators yet more ways to control the masses in ways that most wouldn't even realize they are being controlled - and yet by exposing these methods to the masses in question, gives us ever more effective tools to question the propaganda we are so incessantly bombarded with through so many modern communication channels. Very much recommended.