#995 - Lionel Page - Born to Lie: How Humans Deceive Ourselves & Others

Overview

This episode explores the intricacies of human reasoning, communication, and social dynamics, focusing on how deception, ambiguity, and coalition-building shape our interactions. Lionel Page delves into the evolutionary roots of these behaviors, explaining why humans are wired to prioritize persuasion over truth and how this impacts everything from personal relationships to politics.

Notable Quotes

- Reason isn’t here to solve problems; it’s here for us to convince other people. – Lionel Page, on the true purpose of human reasoning.

- It’s not a lie if you believe it. – Lionel Page, referencing self-deception as a strategic tool for persuasion.

- Humans are better at playing games when they don’t know they’re games. – Lionel Page, on the hidden nature of social and psychological strategies.

🧠 The Purpose of Human Reasoning

- Lionel Page explains that human reasoning evolved not to solve scientific or practical problems but to navigate social interactions and persuade others.

- Most reasoning is used like a lawyer’s argument—focused on convincing others rather than uncovering objective truth.

- Cognitive biases like confirmation bias are not flaws but tools designed to help us win our case in social contexts.

🤔 Why We Deceive Ourselves

- Self-deception serves a strategic purpose: it allows us to believe our own narratives, making us more convincing to others.

- Lionel Page highlights Robert Trivers’ theory that overconfidence and self-deception evolved to reduce the risks of being caught in a lie.

- Examples include inflated self-perceptions, such as 90% of people believing they are better drivers than average.

🕵️‍♂️ The Complexity of Human Communication

- Communication is far more intricate than chess, requiring recursive mind-reading and relevance optimization.

- Ambiguity and innuendo are tools humans use to navigate social conflicts while maintaining plausible deniability.

- Lionel Page discusses paltering, where people deceive by saying technically true statements that lead others to false conclusions.

👥 Coalition Psychology and Belonging

- Humans are deeply wired to form coalitions and monitor their standing within groups.

- Social exclusion triggers anxiety because belonging is tied to survival in evolutionary terms.

- Coalition loyalty often leads to extreme displays of commitment, such as adopting exaggerated beliefs to signal fealty.

🏛️ Democracy as a Coalition Game

- Democracy is better understood as a system for negotiating compromises between coalitions rather than a truth-seeking exercise.

- Political ideologies are bids to tilt the social contract in favor of specific coalitions.

- Lionel Page argues that democracy’s strength lies in its ability to ensure broad representation, not in its pursuit of objective truth.