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[@ChrisWillx] Born to Lie: How Humans Deceive Ourselves & Others - Lionel Page

· 5 min read
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@ChrisWillx - "Born to Lie: How Humans Deceive Ourselves & Others - Lionel Page"

Link: https://youtu.be/uhx3sVXkl4E

Short Summary​

Here's a summary of the provided transcript, focusing on the key action item and a concise executive summary:

  • Number One Action Item: Realize that human reasoning is primarily for persuasion and social navigation, not objective truth-seeking, and adjust your expectations accordingly.

  • Executive Summary: The speaker argues that human reason is not primarily for problem-solving or truth-seeking but rather a tool for social persuasion and navigating complex social interactions. This understanding explains phenomena like confirmation bias and self-deception, as they serve the purpose of convincing others and maintaining social standing, which underscores the importance of coalition building. Therefore, a significant shift in perspective is needed when studying human behavior.

Key Quotes​

Here are 5 quotes from the transcript that represent valuable insights into human reasoning and behavior:

  1. "We're reasoning like lawyers to convince other people. And then the key aspect I think one of the interesting theories which came in the last 10 years about you know um what is reason is that reason is is this it's it's this it's not here to solve problems. It's here for us to convince other people."
  2. "One way of limiting this cost or one way of not being found out is actually to believe my own stories."
  3. "It's not a lie if you believe it."
  4. "Algorithms online can get you to click on stuff in one of two ways. The first way is to become better at predicting what you will click on and the second is nudging your preferences to make you more predictable and more easy to work out. So algorithms work in two ways. It's not just becoming better at reverse engineering what Lionel wants. It's making Lionel more predictable so that my algo works better."
  5. "Humans are better at playing games when they don't know that they're games."

Detailed Summary​

Here is a detailed summary of the YouTube video transcript, presented in bullet points:

Key Topics & Arguments

  • Reason is Primarily for Social Persuasion: The speaker argues that human reasoning is not primarily about solving problems or finding truth, but about convincing other people and navigating social interactions.

  • Reason as a Lawyer, Not a Scientist: We use reason less like scientists seeking objective truth and more like lawyers building a case to persuade others.

  • Self-Serving Reasoning: Our reasoning is often self-serving, designed to put a favorable spin on our actions and beliefs to convince others (and ourselves).

  • The Role of Self-Deception: Self-deception isn't a flaw, but a strategic tool to make our persuasiveness more effective. If we believe our own stories, we're less likely to give away cues that we're lying or bluffing.

  • The Ubiquity of Rose-Tinted Glasses: We tend to see the world through "rose-tinted glasses," which explains conflicts and differing perspectives in social situations.

  • Victimhood as a Strategy: Even the desire to be seen as a victim can be a form of self-deception, used to gain moral standing and leverage social benefits.

  • Lying to Ourselves to Avoid Lying to Others: We deceive ourselves to avoid the risks associated with directly lying to others. Believing our own version of reality removes the need for risky overt lies.

  • The Importance of Reputation: Fear of damaging our reputation is a key factor in maintaining trustworthiness and cooperation. The threat of losing future cooperative opportunities keeps us in check.

  • Complexity of Communication: Communication is far more complex than it appears, relying on subtle cues, shared understandings, and recursive mind reading (thinking about what others think about our thoughts).

  • Relevance in Communication: We strive to be relevant in communication, providing the most useful information while minimizing the effort required for others to process it.

  • Ambiguity and Plausible Deniability: We often use ambiguous language to convey messages while retaining plausible deniability, especially when negotiating relationships or navigating potentially contentious situations.

  • Paltering: Is saying something truthful in order to induce an error or mislead another person.

  • Coalitions & Social Connection: Humans fundamentally seek out social connection and coalitions. Fear of exclusion drives much of our behavior.

  • The Tension Between Autonomy and Connection: There's inherent tension between our desire for autonomy and independence and our need for social connection and belonging.

  • Coalitional Psychology: Coalitional psychology says that anxiety stems from the need to belong and fear of being ostracized or demoted within a social group.

  • Loyalty Tests: Coalitions test loyalty to maintain cohesion. Displays of support, even for extreme or irrational beliefs, can serve as signals of commitment to the group.

  • Democracy as a Coalition Game: Democracy is better understood as a competition between coalitions seeking to influence policy and control resources, rather than a process of discovering objective truth.

  • Invisibility of the Games: We are often unaware of the strategic games we are playing, which can be beneficial. Naïveté and genuine commitment can be more effective than calculating self-interest.

  • Strategic Ignorance: It can be strategically advantageous not to be fully aware of the games we're playing. Being seen as genuine and loyal can strengthen our social bonds.