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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.
In this foundational book, Robert Trivers seeks to answer one of the most provocative and consequential questions to face humanity: why do we lie to ourselves? Deception is everywhere in nature. And nowhere more so than in our own species. We humans are especially good at telling others less - or more - than the truth. Why, however, would organisms both seek out information and then act to destroy it? In short, why practice self-deception? After decades of research, Robert Trivers has at last provided the missing theory to answer these questions. What emerges is a picture of deceit and self-deception as, at root, different sides of the same coin. We deceive ourselves the better to deceive ot...
In evolution, most genes survive and spread within populations because they increase the ability of their hosts (or their close relatives) to survive and reproduce. But some genes spread in spite of being harmful to the host organism—by distorting their own transmission to the next generation, or by changing how the host behaves toward relatives. As a consequence, different genes in a single organism can have diametrically opposed interests and adaptations.Covering all species from yeast to humans, Genes in Conflict is the first book to tell the story of selfish genetic elements, those continually appearing stretches of DNA that act narrowly to advance their own replication at the expense ...
Robert Trivers is a living legend in biology and the social sciences, a man the Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker calls ''one of the great thinkers in the history of Western thought" and Time magazine named one of the greatest scientists and thinkers of the 20th Century. His theories on the evolutionary tensions between parent and offspring, sibling and sibling, man and woman, friend and friend, and a person and himself or herself have not only revolutionized genetics and evolutionary biology but have influenced disciplines from medicine and the social sciences to history, economics, and literary studies. But unlike other renowned scientists, Trivers has spent time behind bars, drove a geta...
Science need not be dull and bogged down by jargon, as Richard Dawkins proves in this entertaining look at evolution. The themes he takes up are the concepts of altruistic and selfish behaviour; the genetical definition of selfish interest; the evolution of aggressive behaviour; kinshiptheory; sex ratio theory; reciprocal altruism; deceit; and the natural selection of sex differences. 'Should be read, can be read by almost anyone. It describes with great skill a new face of the theory of evolution.' W.D. Hamilton, Science
From scholarly journals, Trivers (anthropology and biological sciences, Rutgers U.) has selected five of his papers published between 1971 and 1976, and another five published between 1982 and 2000. He has added accounts of how they were written, and short postscripts to bring readers up to date or at least point them to more recent work on the issues discussed. Annotation (c)2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).
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Cooperative behaviour has been one of the enigmas of evolutionary theory. This book examines the many facets of cooperative behaviour in primates and humans. It bridges the gap between parallel research in primatology and studies of humans, and highlights both common principles and aspects of human uniqueness, with respect to cooperative behaviour.
Genomic imprinting allows scientists to trace genes to the parent of origin. This volume presents a collection of 13 papers by David Haig (organisimic and evolutionary biology, Harvard U.) on genomic imprinting. He argues that our paternally and maternally active genes do not work in cooperation with each other and in fact are in competition. Each paper is followed by commentary by the author, providing background information and discussing developments since its publication. Annotation copyrighted by Book News Inc., Portland, OR.