10/29/2023 0 Comments Kingdom of deception cheats![]() I don't really have any other major critiques. This happened with all the versions of Kindle, so the publisher should re-issue the book. One thing I will mention: the Kindle version of my book had a lot of images that simply did not appear (just a caption). He doesn't bore you to tears with convoluted side bars, he's honest, and his book wasn't too overly long. I appreciated that because I always like nonfiction where the authors state their opinions instead of writing like an encyclopedia. The author did not hide his distaste for the downfall of American democracy via misinformation campaigns propagated by extremists. I expected to be bored in these chapters since I prefer the animal behavior chapters, but I was surprised when I was not. ![]() The second half of the book delves into imposters, self deception, the role of deception in society as a whole, and how to better the harmful lies in society. He has a theme of two ways of deception: a) Messing with communication and b) taking advantage of cognitive biases or sensory gaps and he carries it through the whole book from how animals hide from predators or prey on other animals, or how they gain mates. This is important in nonfiction, which can be difficult to finish at times. It gives the book a less disjointed approach that creates a nice narrative flow. I very much like it when the author comes up with patterns and themes that are threaded throughout the book. It was very readable with just the right amount of science and casual, anecdotal prose. It's half ethology (animal behavior) and half psychology. This is a bit of an odd book in that it blends two genres. plants with flowers that look like bees to get other bees's engagement to better maximize pollen distribution).ĭespite the above laws, he does not see this as a never ongoing arms race between cohorts of the same species (or differing species), and does also make an argument that 'honesty' is also an adaptive tactic that also works.ĭefinetly required reading for those studying this professionally. He breaks this truth down to two 'laws':ġst law : Animals cheat by falsifying honest information in communication for their own interest - the biological essence of lyin (i.e.animals using vocal signals of a predator to scare off competition or other predators - like parrots)Ģnd law : Deceptions that exploit cognitive loopholes in the cheat target (i.e. The basis of the book is that organic life is a ongoing fray of competing organisms looking to 1-up each other in any possible way. Lixing is clearly a primary and currently active researcher in the field, and the personal recounted stories regarding his own reserarch are appreciated. (I went into student panic mode that I was not retaining 100% of all of his wonderful examples). Lixing Sun does an excellent job of speaking to the lay person here, with only the sheer amount of information being provided the only quirk that may scare off a casual reader from this title. I think readers here should do a quick article read on Richard Dawkin's The Selfish Gene to benefit and pre-align with certain aspects of this title. ![]() ![]() Sun demonstrates that cheating serves as a potent catalyst in the evolutionary arms race between the cheating and the cheated, resulting in a biological world teeming with complexity and beauty.īrimming with insight and humor, The Liars of Nature and the Nature of Liars also looks at the prevalence of cheating in human society, identifying the kinds of cheating that spur innovation and cultural vitality and laying down a blueprint for combatting malicious cheating such as fake news and disinformation.Īs somebody who had taken both animal behaviour and psychology courses in university (and then had forgotten most of it as my disciplines had changed) this title was a great blast from the past. The other is deceiving, by which cheaters exploit the biases and loopholes in the sensory systems of other creatures. One is lying, by which cheaters exploit honest messages in communication signals and use them to serve their own interests. The Liars of Nature and the Nature of Liars explores the evolution of cheating in the natural world, revealing how dishonesty has given rise to wondrous diversity.īlending cutting-edge science with a wealth of illuminating examples―from microscopic organisms to highly intelligent birds and mammals―Lixing Sun shows how cheating in nature relies on two basic rules. Amphibians and reptiles are inveterate impostors. Possums play possum, feigning death to cheat predators. A natural history of cheating from selfish genes to lying politicians
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