View of Deception and Lying
Lies permeate our lives. When a colleague asks “How you are?” first thing in the morning, our answer is frequently a lie; regardless of how we feel that day and what is going on our lives, we automatically present a picture of wellness and happiness. Why do we do this? What is the point of asking such a question if most people answer it dishonestly on a continual basis? Why, in our society - where ostensibly the truth is good and dishonesty is bad - do we not only tolerate dishonesty but teach our children lies, and then get mad when they lie to us?
Indeed, human life is full of ambiguities, and with it is the fact that lying is not necessarily wrong and honesty is not necessarily nice. People are dishonest for a …show more content…
Not only do primates and animals that are often cited as “intelligent” deceive, simpler organisms – even single celled organisms like bacteria and some fungi - engage in strategies to maximize their fitness (Axelrod and Hamilton, 1981). Sea creatures use a variety of techniques to deceive both prey and predators, such as changing shape and color, (((and this animal)) can even add appendages to look like one of a variety of different species (Axelrod and Hamilton, 1981; Smith, 2004). Viruses deceive their host’s immune system in order to multiply (Smith, 2004). Humans use some of these same strategies to deceive, although we are often more advanced in our techniques.
In this paper, we will discuss broad types and kinds of deception, namely: deception in nature, everyday deception in humans, self-deception, benevolent deception, malevolent deception, as well as the related topic of malevolent truth telling. Central to deception in nature is game theory; it explains cooperation and defection, which is necessary to a full understanding of deception. This will be the first topic of discussion.
A Note on …show more content…
For example, if A and B in this example were a parent and child pair, they would almost certainly have qualms about defecting against one another. But our ability for these more complex patterns of behavior are built upon strategies that phylogenetically older species have used, and - somewhat remarkably - a brain isn’t even necessary to engage in strategic interaction with other organisms (Axelrod and Hamilton, 1981). Bacterial cells such as those of Escherichia coli (E. coli) generally cooperate with each other, but - when faced with a situation like the Prisoner’s Dilemma (where defecting leads to a better outcome than cooperation) - they will always defect (Lambert, Vyawahare, and Austin, 2014). For example, if a stronger cell (such as one who has an evolved genotypal resistance to stress) is striving for a limited resource with a weaker cell, the stronger cell will always outcompete the weaker cell by virtue of them both defecting (Lambert, Vyawahare, and Austin, 2014; Axelrod and Hamilton,
Lies permeate our lives. When a colleague asks “How you are?” first thing in the morning, our answer is frequently a lie; regardless of how we feel that day and what is going on our lives, we automatically present a picture of wellness and happiness. Why do we do this? What is the point of asking such a question if most people answer it dishonestly on a continual basis? Why, in our society - where ostensibly the truth is good and dishonesty is bad - do we not only tolerate dishonesty but teach our children lies, and then get mad when they lie to us?
Indeed, human life is full of ambiguities, and with it is the fact that lying is not necessarily wrong and honesty is not necessarily nice. People are dishonest for a …show more content…
Not only do primates and animals that are often cited as “intelligent” deceive, simpler organisms – even single celled organisms like bacteria and some fungi - engage in strategies to maximize their fitness (Axelrod and Hamilton, 1981). Sea creatures use a variety of techniques to deceive both prey and predators, such as changing shape and color, (((and this animal)) can even add appendages to look like one of a variety of different species (Axelrod and Hamilton, 1981; Smith, 2004). Viruses deceive their host’s immune system in order to multiply (Smith, 2004). Humans use some of these same strategies to deceive, although we are often more advanced in our techniques.
In this paper, we will discuss broad types and kinds of deception, namely: deception in nature, everyday deception in humans, self-deception, benevolent deception, malevolent deception, as well as the related topic of malevolent truth telling. Central to deception in nature is game theory; it explains cooperation and defection, which is necessary to a full understanding of deception. This will be the first topic of discussion.
A Note on …show more content…
For example, if A and B in this example were a parent and child pair, they would almost certainly have qualms about defecting against one another. But our ability for these more complex patterns of behavior are built upon strategies that phylogenetically older species have used, and - somewhat remarkably - a brain isn’t even necessary to engage in strategic interaction with other organisms (Axelrod and Hamilton, 1981). Bacterial cells such as those of Escherichia coli (E. coli) generally cooperate with each other, but - when faced with a situation like the Prisoner’s Dilemma (where defecting leads to a better outcome than cooperation) - they will always defect (Lambert, Vyawahare, and Austin, 2014). For example, if a stronger cell (such as one who has an evolved genotypal resistance to stress) is striving for a limited resource with a weaker cell, the stronger cell will always outcompete the weaker cell by virtue of them both defecting (Lambert, Vyawahare, and Austin, 2014; Axelrod and Hamilton,