Why We Lie: The Evolutionary Roots of Deception and the Unconscious MindDeceit, lying, and falsehoods lie at the very heart of our cultural heritage. Even the founding myth of the Judeo-Christian tradition, the story of Adam and Eve, revolves around a lie. We have been talking, writing and singing about deception ever since Eve told God, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." Our seemingly insatiable appetite for stories of deception spans the extremes of culture from King Lear to Little Red Riding Hood, retaining a grip on our imaginations despite endless repetition. These tales of deception are so enthralling because they speak to something fundamental in the human condition. The ever-present possibility of deceit is a crucial dimension of all human relationships, even the most central: our relationships with our very own selves. |
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... species of human beings came into existence and passed away into extinction; the last of these, the Neanderthals, died out only about thirty thousand years ago. Then, sometime between one hundred and one hundred fifty thousand years ago ...
... species to succeed in the never-ending struggle for survival, natural selection made them part of our nature. We are deceptive animals because of the advantages that dishonesty reaped for our ancestors, and which it continues to secure ...
... Twain's perspective is both inclusive and biologically realistic. As we saw with Paul and Mel, and we will see in chapter 2, deception is not the exclusive province of our species. Many other organisms make liberal use What is a Lie?
... species. Many other organisms make liberal use of deception to get their way. I therefore define lying as any form of behavior the function of which is to provide others with false information or to deprive them of true information. I ...
... species, so perfectly normal and expectable, that any attempt to catalogue it comprehensively would be futile. We should not expect anything different when we look at human nature. Deceit is part of our nature, just as it is part of ...
Contents
9 | |
29 | |
The Evolution of Machiavelli | 50 |
The Architecture of the Machiavellian Mind | 79 |
Social Poker | 104 |
Hot Gossip | 122 |
Machiavelli on the Couch | 148 |
Conspiratorial Whispers and Covert Operations | 168 |
Descartess Demon | 195 |
Index | 233 |
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Why We Lie: The Evolutionary Roots of Deception and the Unconscious Mind David Livingstone Smith No preview available - 2004 |