Juan Carlos Garelli wrote:
>
> Robert Trivers devotes a whole chapter to the issue: Chapter 16 of
> his book Social Evolution, which he chose to call "Deceit and Self
> Deception".
>
> Concepts on self-deception are wonderfully expounded in that
> chapter, but more important, what he writes about "The Logic of
> Self-Deception" (pp. 415-416) coincides almost exactly with research
> on infant communication (Stern 1985).
>
> Infants interact with their mothers or caregivers intersubjectively
> from birth onwards. During the first 15-18 months of life this kind
> of communication, is preserved from language interference;
> therefore, all characteristics of communication tend to be
> coherent.
>
> When language turns up, what is seen and heard may interfere with
> what is said, and contradictions pop up. Hence, the difficulty
> inherent in consciously lying inadvertently. If, by means of
> unconscious processes derived from the baby's interaction with his
> attachment figure (Bowlby, 1973), what the baby is told becomes felt
> as true in the face of objective falsehood, then the baby will
> deceive himself to avoid rejection from his mother.
>
> Psychopathologically, self-deception characterizes a mental
> condition known as _psychopathy_ or _sociopathy_, which displays a
> number of sub-syndromes spanning a vast range of external
> manifestations: from crime and murder to manipulating others.
>
> This is important, to my mind, since politicians and socially
> successful people are almost invariably psychopaths of different
> kinds of severity. Detecting them, penetrating the barrier of
> self-deception is therefore of the utmost importance for a society
> based on mutual cooperation.
>
> References:
>
> - Bowlby, John, (1973) Attachment and Loss vol. 2: Separation.
> London: The Hogarth Press.
>
> - Stern, Daniel, (1985) The Interpersonal World of the Infant, New
> York: Basic Books
>
> - Trivers, Robert, (1985) Social Evolution, The Bejamin/Cummings
> Publishing Company, Inc.: Menlo Park, California.
>
> JC Garelli
> ______________
>
> In a message dated 29 Apr 97 at 15:37, Jay Hanson mailto:[log in to unmask]
> says:
>
> > At 11:55 AM 4/29/97 -0500, Edwina Taborsky wrote:
> >
> > >First, I feel that homo sapiens is the only species on earth whose
> > >ability to live is primarily conceptual rather than genetic. By this
> > >I mean that human adaptive systems are learned rather than
> > >genetically stored. This gives an enormous amount of adaptive
> > >flexibility to this particular species. A deer must grow a coat of
> >
> > I have quite have a different view of humanity. Modern
> > evolutionary theory argues that humans were selected to be the best
> > at getting their genes into the next generation. In other words,
> > best at exploitation[1] and deception[2].
> >
> > I see the vast bulk of social theories as merely ways to
> > rationalize what we are genetically programmed to do. Moreover, we
> > are still totally dependent on our natural life-support system.
> >
> > Jay
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > [1] Exploit: To employ to the greatest possible advantage.
> >
> > [2] In the late 50s, the social scientist Erving Goffman made
> > a stir with a book called THE PRESENTATION OF SELF IN
> > EVERYDAY LIFE, that stressed how much time we all spend
> > on stage, playing to one audience or another. Goffman
> > marveled that sometimes a person is "sincerely convinced
> > that the impression of reality which he stages is the real
> > reality."
> >
> > What modern evolution theory brings to Goffman's
> > observation is an explanation of the practical function
> > of self-deception: we deceive ourselves in order to deceive
> > others better. In his foreword to Richard Dawkins' THE SELFISH
> > GENE, Robert Trivers noted Dawkins' emphasis on the role of
> > deception in animal life and added, in a much-cited passage,
> > that if indeed "deceit is fundamental to animal communication,
> > then there must be strong selection to spot deception and this
> > ought, in turn, to select for a degree of self-deception,
> > rendering some facts and motives unconscious so as not to
> > betray -- by the subtle signs of self-knowledge -- the
> > deception being practiced." Thus, "the conventional view that
> > natural selection favors nervous systems which produce ever
> > more accurate images of the world must be a very naive view of
> > mental evolution." pp. 263-264, THE MORAL ANIMAL ,Robert
> > Wright; Pantheon, 1994; ISBN 0-679-40773-1.
>
> Juan Carlos Garelli, M.D., Ph.D.
> Department of Early Development
> University of Buenos Aires
>
> Find Attachment Research Center Home Page at:
> http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/3041
It is exciting to me that Self-Deception is being analyzed in
terms of the psychopathy or sociopathy of politicians. I guess that is an
important application of the concept. If this could be more broadly
exposed to the public it might have a liberating effect on humanity.
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