Human beings are self-deceived because self-deception is useful. It allows us to reap the benefits of selfish behavior while posing as unselfish in front of others. Confronting our delusions must therefore (at least in part) undermine their very reason for existing
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What looks like altruism is actually, at a deeper level, competitive self-interest.
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When a species is pair-bonded and monogamous, the incentives for males and females converge. (My note: What happens when we undermine monogamy?)
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if you’re worried that your neighbors might disapprove and even coordinate to punish you, then you’re most likely dealing with a norm. Norm violators are punished by a coalition, that is, people acting in concert.
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Christopher Boehm calls it a “reverse dominance hierarchy,” where instead of the strongest apes dominating the group, in humans it’s the rest of the group, working together, that’s able to dominate the strongest apes
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Four seemingly irrational behaviors we use to win social (mixed motive) games: * degrading communication channels * opening ourselves to future punishment * deliberately not learning things that undermine us * intentionally believing a lie
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The strategy for degrading communication channels is to use a proxy agent to conduct negotiations. We can place inflexible terms on an intermediary, making it harder to propose new terms to a deal.
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Opening oneself up to future punishment. Schelling: Among the legal privileges of corporations are the right to sue and the right to be sued. The right to be sued is the power to make a promise, power to do business with someone who might be damaged
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Ignoring information (strategic ignorance). If you’re kidnapped, you might prefer not to see your kidnapper’s face or learn his name, because if he knows you can identify him later (to the police), he’ll be less likely to let you go. Knowledge as a liability.
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Purposely believing something that’s false. If you’re a general who firmly believes your army can win, even though the odds are against it, you might nevertheless intimidate your opponent into backing down.
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Deterrence doesn't require that you win, merely that you impose costs that are greater than the benefits of taking whatever it is that's being demanded. This is very old self-deception - if you don't believe that you can win, you'll activate the back down behavioral programs.
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