It eliminates the costly cognitive load that is typically associated with deceiving, and it can minimize retribution if the deception is discovered. Trivers abruptly realizes he is seeing his reflection in a store window. Selfdeception as a mechanism for the maintenance of drug. A new york times notable book of 2012 whether itos in a cockpit at takeoff or the. One promising possibility is a variant of the ultimatum game, in which deception and detection of deception are permitted and given quantitative values. Newton, trivers recalls, was a master at propagating. The folly of fools the logic of deceit and self deception in human life whether it s in a cockpit at takeoff or the planning of an offensive war a romantic relationship or a dispute at the office there are many opportunities to lie and self deceive but deceit and self d. Fooling yourself the better to fool others ebook written by robert trivers. A trial with rats shows this, another with students suggests that. The logic of deceit and selfdeception in human life basic books, 2011 for the new york times. I am rating it one star to catch the attention of readers who might think it is a different book. Trivers focuses primarily on humans but he includes examples from many other organisms as well. A celebrated evolutionary biologist, trivers uses the tools of his trade to answer a basic question.
The folly of fools download ebook pdf, epub, tuebl, mobi. Your use of this pdf, the bioone complete website, and all posted and. All the better to fool you with, my dear robert trivers. In the earlier portion of the book, trivers traces the way in which selfdeception involved in human beings and other animals, particularly as a tool to make the transmission of the. A new york times notable book of 2012 whether its in a cockpit at takeoff or the planning of an offensive war, a romantic relationship or a dispute at the office, there are many opportunities to lie and selfdeceivebut deceit and selfdeception carry the costs of being alienated from reality and can lead to disaster. This is the british edition of the book published in the usa entitled the folly of fools. Triverss theories of deceit and selfdeceit are based on multiple gleanings from experimental psychology. The theory of the folly of fools is that we deceive ourselves the better to deceive others. The book emphasizes topics especially relevant to human behavior, including kindship, parentoffspring relations, parental investment, sexual selection, mate choice, cooperation, and deceit and self deception from the rear cover blurb. The logic of deceit and selfdeception in human life.
Robert triverss new book is a curious document a book about deception and self deception that is itself deceptive, in structure, voice and argument. Largely through historical examples and personal anecdotes, robert trivers builds the foundation for an evolutionary theory of selfdeception and deceit in his recent book, the folly of fools. Pdf deceit and self deception download full pdf book download. Download file pdf the folly of fools the logic of deceit and self deception in human lifehuman life 2011, basic books, isbn 0465027555 by robert trivers is a book that examines the evolutionary explanations for deceit and selfdeception. The logic of deceit and selfdeception in human life, by robert trivers. Whether it s in a cockpit at takeoff or the planning of an offensive war, a romantic relationship or a dispute at the office, there are many opportunities to lie and self deceive but deceit and self deception carry the costs of being alienated from reality and can lead to disaster so why does deception play such a prominent role in our everyday lives in short, why do wewhether it s in a.
Biologist robert trivers book the folly of fools tells the manifest ways human beings deceive themselves, from politics and religion to science and everyday life. Deceit and self deception fooling yourself the better to fool others deceit and self deception fooling right here, we have countless ebook deceit and self deception fooling yourself the better to fool others and collections to check out. Social evolution offers a clear and uptodate introduction to the growing field of sociobiology. Fooling yourself the better to fool others robert trivers basic books allen lane. Is robert trivers deceiving himself about evolutionary. Deceit is useful where telling the unpleasant truth would hamper your progress. Selfdeception that involves the acquisition of an unwanted belief, termed twisted selfdeception by mele 1999, 2001, has generated a small but growing literature of its own, most recently, barnes 1997, mele 1999, 2001, scottkakures 2000. Fooling yourself the better to fool others, he does exactly that. Interest then took off in the 1960s and 70s, mainly prompted by the perception that the idea of selfdeception is. Kindle file format deceit and self deception fooling. Aug 27, 2005 the two men planned a book on deceit and selfdeception. A new york times notable book of 2012 whether its in a cockpit at takeoff or the planning of an offensive war, a romantic relationship or a dispute at the office, there are many opportunities to lie and selfdeceive. The logic of deceit and selfdeception in human life basic books isbn 9780465027552.
Dec 25, 2011 trivers abruptly realizes he is seeing his reflection in a store window. Tedxjamaica robert trivers deceit and selfdeception. We deceive ourselves the better to deceive others, and thereby reap the advantages. Fooling yourself the better to fool others robert l. From space and aviation disasters to warfare, politics and religion, and the anxieties of our everyday social lives. For natural selection and social theory, he has selected eleven of his most influential papers, including several classic papers from the early 1970s on the evolution of reciprocal altruism, parentoffspring conflicts, and asymmetry in sexual selection, which helped to establish the centrality of sociobiology, as well. Conversely, if you think about selfdeception without comprehending its connection with deception, then i think youll miss the major function of selfdeception.
With his characteristically wry and selfeffacing wit, trivers reveals how he finds selfdeception everywhere in his own life, and shows us that while we may not. Robert trivers to speak on deceit, selfdeception as part. A typical example of such selfdeception is the jealous husband who believes on weak. The central claim of the book is that self deception evolves in the service of deception and the general argument is that we deceive ourselves the better to deceive others. First, most studies involve deception that is of little con sequence to the deceiver. His overarching premise is that if we can only see our own point of view. Zlibrary is one of the largest online libraries in the world that contains over 4,960,000 books and 77,100,000 articles. The two began writing a book titled deceit and selfdeception, but the publishing house closed. Trivers proposed the theories of reciprocal altruism 1971, parental investment 1972, facultative sex ratio determination 1973, and parentoffspring conflict 1974. The elements of a scientific theory of selfdeception. Download deceitandselfdeception ebook pdf or read online books in pdf, epub. Whether its in a cockpit at takeoff or the planning of an offensive war, a romantic relationship or a dispute at the office, there are many opportunities to lie and selfdeceivebut deceit and selfdeception carry the costs of being alienated from reality and can lead to disaster.
Like other great popular press books in science, this book advances an. In particular, youll be tempted to go the route that psychology went a hundred years ago or so and think of selfdeception as defensive. Robert trivers is one of the leading figures pioneering the field of sociobiology. Trivers has written an ambitious investigation into the evolutionary logic of lying and the costs of leaving it unchecked. Tedx talk on deceit and self deception in kingston jamaica. This is the best talk i have given on self deception, in part because tedx talks are limited to 20 minutes and in part because it is delivered in jamaica with many local references. The folly of fools is a book about deception and self deception and just the first topics the author examines give you in advance an idea on what the whole book is about. Robert trivers and noam chomsky deceit and selfdeception.
Newton, trivers recalls, was a master at propagating deception, he was a master at seeing through. The ultimate effect of shielding men from the effects of their folly is to fill the world with fools. Sep 19, 2015 a new york times notable book of 2012. The logic of deceit and selfdeception in human life new york. In order to evaluate selfdeception, the selfdeception and mixti. Self deception is a process of denying or rationalizing away the relevance, significance, or importance of opposing evidence and logical argument. He has also contributed by explaining selfdeception as an adaptive evolutionary. For us, deceit and self deception are two sides of the same coin and trivers covers a huge amount of ground to make his case. In the earlier portion of the book, trivers traces the way in which self deception involved in human beings and other animals, particularly as a tool to make the transmission of the. Robert trivers is one of the few scientists able to take command of an evolutionary perspective on subterfuge, and in his new book deceit and selfdeception. You may remember that during the last time, we experienced some technical difficulties. What makes trivers book unusual even among great books is the density of new ideas.
Pdf deceit and self deception download full pdf book. Sustained discussions of selfdeception before the 1960s are difficult to find, with notable exceptions including bishop butlers sermon upon selfdeceit, and jeanpaul sartres discussion of the related notion of bad faith in being and nothingness. Now, decades on, he has arrived at a big, new universal theory, also essentially based on the arithmetic of gene selection. He received his bachelors and phd from harvard university. Trivers and others published deceit and selfdeception find, read and cite all the research you need on researchgate. Revealing, provocative and witty, deceit and selfdeception is one of the most vital books written this century, and will make you rethink everything that you think you know. Consider as an example a cancer patient who maintains the. The folly of fools is a book about deception and selfdeception and just the first topics the author examines give you in advance an idea on what the whole book is about. Bob trivers born robert ludlow trivers 19430219 february 19, 1943 age 76 washington, d. Trivers, regarded as the founder of this field of study, said this will likely be the first time many audience members will hear about the theory of deceit and selfdeception. Evolutionary biologist robert trivers of rutgers university will speak on the evolution of deceit and selfdeception on oct. Trivers is not an elegant stylist like dawkins, wilson or pinker. Symmetry and dance tpz publishers isbn 9780615287560.
This cited by count includes citations to the following articles in scholar. Robert trivers was the man who produced the unifying theory of kin selection and altruism. Trivers, 9780141019918, download free ebooks, download free pdf epub ebook. Kindle file format deceit and self deception fooling yourself. Robert triverss new book is a curious document a book about deception and selfdeception that is itself deceptive, in structure, voice and argument. This is the best talk i have given on selfdeception, in part because tedx talks are limited to 20 minutes and in part because it is delivered in jamaica with many local references. Self deception involves convincing oneself of a truth or lack of truth so that one does not reveal any self knowledge of the deception. Like, erasmus of rotterdam, robert trivers tries to rationalize the existence of deceit and selfdeception in human life.
The term self deception describes the puzzling situation in which a person appears both to know and not know one and the same thing. Download pdf deceitandselfdeception free online new. Beyond its role in specific acts of deception, selfdeceptive selfenhancement also allows people to display more confidence than is warranted, which. The folly of fools the logic of deceit and self deception in. Beginning with the evolutionary roots and logic of our unrivaled ability to hide the truth from ourselves and others, trivers then. The what and why of selfdeception harvard business school. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read deceit and self deception. For natural selection and social theory, he has selected eleven of his most influential papers, including several classic papers from the early 1970s on the evolution of reciprocal altruism, parentoffspring conflicts, and asymmetry in sexual selection, which helped to establish the centrality of sociobiology, as well as some. What emerges is a picture of deceit and selfdeception as, at root, different sides of the same coin.
And this strategy, according to the author, is based on our natural instincts, such as selfpreservation and reproductive success. The central problem with extant accounts of self deception is that they are unable to balance two crucial desiderata. The folly of fools the logic of deceit and self deception. A new york times notable book of 2012 whether its in a cockpit at takeoff or the planning of an offensive war, a romantic relationship or a dispute at the office, there are many opportunities to lie and. Robert trivers is a pioneering figure in the field of sociobiology. The illusion of control, the construction of biased social theory, false personal narratives, and so on. Financial times one of the great thinkers in the history of western thought. The term selfdeception describes the puzzling situation in which a person appears both to know and not know one and the same thing.
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