The folly of fools
by Robert Trivers, Santiago Foz (argentino) · first published 2011
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Explores the author's theorized evolutionary basis for self-deception, which he says is tied to group conflict, courtship, neurophysiology, and immunology, but can be negated by awareness of it and its results.
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…patterns for adaptation to many environments, probably have a system for regulating immune response that is harder to observe. I note for the record and for your reading enjoyment that the recent book he Folly of Fools: The Logic of Deceit and Self-Deception in Human Life by Robert Trivers http://www.amazon.com/The-Folly-Fools-Deceit-Self-Deception/... includes a chapter, with some citations to scientific studies,…
on “Evolution could explain the placebo effect” ↗…economy. In the usual case, they are getting those jobs by showing what they can actually do as part of the hiring process, degree or no degree. After edit: I recently read the VERY interesting book The Folly of Fools: The Logic of Deceit and Self-Deception in Human Life http://www.amazon.com/Folly-Fools-Logic-Deceit-Self-Deceptio... (I wonder if this book has been discussed here on HN yet?) and that reminded me…
on “Get A Job: The Craigslist Experiment” ↗…nerves for output are strictly limited in bandwidth, so you always have to ignore much of what you could perceive or do. A really good book about the built-in capacity for human self-deception is The Folly of Fools: The Logic of Deceit and Self-Deception in Human Life by Robert Trivers, http://www.amazon.com/The-Folly-Fools-Deceit-Self-Deception/... which is full of interesting information about limitations of…
on “Ask HN: What is the size of human memory?” ↗The problem is when you consider the game-theoretic incentives of "Greater Madman" posturing, through the len of Trivers' "Folly of Fools" [0]: that the most effective way to fool others is often to first fool yourself. It is entirely plausible that Darwinian selection pressures rewarded not just those who cynically postured as madmen,…
on “Nuclear war probabilities are useless - counter to the nuclear gambler’s ruin” ↗…infant than can experience hunger commands more nurturing, and a mother that can empathize via her own subjectivity offers more nurturing, in a reinforcing feedback loop.) Some overlap with Trivers' "Folly of Fools": if we fool ourselves, we can more effectively fool others. Perhaps sufficiently advanced self-deception is indistinguishable from "consciousness"? :)
on “The New AI Consciousness Paper” ↗