Deceit and Self-Deception

Well written, concise, and relevant. It was an "easy" read, carefully constructed with one contiguous idea flowing into another. Am I being deceptive?

Really insightful

This is a book I would strongly recommend anyone trying to gain more insight into (primarily) self and why we behave as we do.

This is the British edition of the book published in the USA entitled *The Folly of Fools: The Logic of Deceit and Self-Deception in Human Life*. It is a five-star book; I am rating it one star to catch the attention of readers who might think it is a different book. It is well worth reading by any title. The prices can sometimes differ markedly.

The Boston Globe, May 1, 2020 article, "Jeffrey Epstein’s Harvard ties were extensive, new report reveals", features a photo of Prof. Trivers with Jeffrey Epstein, Alan Dershowitz and Larry Summers. The Titans of the Universe on Prof. Trivers' fascinating topic.

I came across Trivers' book as a result of a general forage through the jungle that is Evolutionary Psychology. What really attracts me to this work is a combination of Trivers' credibility as an academic, and its unusual juxtaposition with personal and often revealing insights into his own existence, exemplifying his points with sometimes bluntly unflattering self analysis. One can't help but become curiously attached to Trivers during the journey. Huge amounts of knowledge are imparted by the owner of this wonderful mind - and refreshingly Trivers is neither ashamed or afraid to voice his disdain for inadequacies in public policy and corporate governance where it departs (often in cavalier fashion) from the common sense afforded to us by research - whether his own or that of his contemporaries. A fabulous book - covers a lot of diverse ground in the cause of demonstrating just how pernicious, pervasive and frighteningly unconscious self deception truly is.

VERY PLEASED!!!

This book is excellent in content. I know that because i have bought it and read it under the title the folly of fools by the same author, few years ago , (is exactly the same book under a different title). It is upsetting to me that i wasted my money only to realized that i was reading the exact same book i have already read-and only after i have highlighted a few lines with the marker. So be warned if you already have “the folly of fools”.

The four-star reviews on this book sum up the strengths and weaknesses of this book. I will try not to duplicate.The strengths are that for something that we know is endemic in everyday life, so little seems to have been written about it. We know we con ourselves and we see it in others all the time (of course, it’s easier to see it in others than in ourselves). Some recent episodes at my own workplace would be worthy of inclusion in this book (for example, management overturning old systems only to restore them in a different guise and then pretending to the workforce that they haven’t really executed a volte-face).It is peppered with examples that illustrate the author’s case, from an array of disciplines. Deceit and deception is rife as an evolutionary strategy (think of the cuckoo). It is the root of so many human ills, from ill-chosen relationships to the Iraq war. I dare anyone to read it and not wince at self-recognition. It is worth reading alone for the range of thought-provoking examples it offers in support of its case. It is also insightful – the pithy remark that the fact science produces useful knowledge should be borne in mind the next time you should hear someone claim that scientific facts are ‘socially constructed’ or that disease is a social, not medical phenomenon.So while the book is strong on presenting compelling evidence that the practice of practising self-deception is a real phenomenon, the roots of which run deep, it is not so strong on presenting a compelling overarching evolutionary explanation for why it all arose in the first place. I have no objection to examining the biology of our brains for the roots of this and other aspects of our psychology. If psychology is rooted in the brain, and the brain has evolved, like any other organ in the human body, then we are definitely looking in the right place. After all, is there a better place to look? The explanations offered are fine as they go. If men are more likely to be overconfident, and confidence is linked to sexual and reproductive success, then deception has an evolutionary advantage. Deceit is bad for the species but evolution does not care about the fate of the species. After all, if the BS artist and seducer get as far as reproducing, it does not matter if his hubristic overconfidence results in his downfall in the longer run. The genes will have done their job before then.Elsewhere, there may be no selection pressure to weed out the deceivers. George Bush junior after all did not suffer the consequences of his delusion by stopping a bullet. Others do. But these are partial explanations. Deceit in the natural world seems to be of a different order to that humans practise. Yes, deception is rife in the natural world. The Reed Warbler raising a cuckoo chick has been deceived – but has the Reed Warbler conned itself first, before it was deceived? Does the Cuckoo deceive itself before it lays its parasitical egg? The evidence Trivers presents here does not seem to support the conclusion that they have been so deceived. Indeed Reed Warblers are known to have devised strategies to counteract Cuckoos’ deceit. That suggests that there is some awareness of what Cuckoos are up to.The chapters on false historical narratives, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Iraq War are going to wind some people up. They don’t bother me too much but I realise that the style and tone in these chapters are going to present barriers to people who might otherwise be receptive to the general message. Still, they go to show that the caricature of sociobiology as a right-wing political stance is false. Trivers is a dyed-in-the-wool leftist. There is no need for the left to reject an innatist, biological explanation of human behaviour.To Trivers’ credit, he points out that this area is an infant science and much of what he says may turn out to be wrong (at least in terms of explanation). He is also endowed with a self-deprecatory and reflective self-awareness, applying the book’s insights to episodes in his own life. If anyone has ever been troubled by the awareness that we can do deceive ourselves and others then this book is required reading. We could all do with greater self-honesty. And the fact that it is possible to write such a book is perhaps grounds for hope.

Very good

I really enjoyed this book. I found the biological insights to self deception really interesting - especially the chapter about the air/ space disasters. Once Robert went into the political field I became a little bit irritated because it seemed I was getting the American left's view on things - quoting people like Chomsky and other darlings of the left. Also, I found the religious stuff a little bit annoying too and the classic gaffe was Paul XXIII invoked Vatican II where as it was John XXIII. But the best thing about this book is it's made me think about my life, evidencing what I believe and also sharpened my practice as a CBT therapist. I read this book in 2 days - couldn't put it down and I do respect Robert Trivers work - his Social Evolution is another excellent. Don't share his politics or his atheism and I won't be trying Cocaine for a root filling!

A very interesting book for those who want to have a greater understanding of the concept of self-deception.