The Feast of Fools (Latin: festum fatuorum, festum stultorum) was a feast day celebrated by the clergy in Europe during the Middle Ages, initially in Northern France, but later more widely.During the Feast, participants would elect either a false Bishop, false Archbishop or false Pope. There are many situations such as playing "chicken" and seeing who will back down first, where it can actually benefit an organism to deceive itself, by so doing the organism can better deceive others.[1][2]. Whom Are Newborn Babies Said to Resemble? Perhaps one of my favourite chapters was the one entitled "False historical narratives", which explores the ways in which self-deception fuels the proliferation of deliberate rewrites in History. This is an outstanding work, by an author who looks at the foibles of humanity from the point of view of a biologist. This was quite good. Robert L. Trivers (born February 19, 1943, pronounced /ˈtrɪvɚz/) is an American evolutionary biologist and sociobiologist, most noted for proposing the theories of reciprocal altruism (1971), parental investment (1972), and parent-offspring conflict (1974). At first sight I thought it was going to be deadly dull. Trivers provides many examples of deception and self-deception, often with disastrous long-term consequences, but fails to weave all the threads of his topic into a meaningful whole. It was a worthwhile read because of the discussion of the various ways that people regularly deceive themselves. This book is provocative and left me intrigued by the possibility that deception is endemic to life because it is evolutionally advantageous and that we engage in self-deception in order to better deceive others. All the reviewers who write that this is a rambling, sloppy and biased book are quite right. I haven't heard of Trivers, but I gather from the bumf he's a bit of a big name academic in his field. I was particularly dismayed by the hyperbole and often harsh criticism he used with regard to a number of subjects. Along with George C. Williams, Trivers is arguably one of the most influential evolutionary theorists alive today. “The great sage Thales once put the general matter succinctly "Oh master," he was asked, "what is the most difficult thing to do?" You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. The folly of fools is deceit. The text quickly devolved into a rambling political tract that detracted strongly from the line of argument. Trivers has been thinking and writing about this stuff for. The Folly of Fools Wisdom from Above (Proverbs) Midweek Service Calvary Baptist Church. PDF | On Jan 23, 2013, Neil Van Leeuwen published The folly of fools: The logic of deceit and self-deception in human life | Find, read and cite all the research you need on ResearchGate I rarely give a book five stars, and only if I think it says something new and important. Archetypical behaviors paralleled directly by groups of chimpanzees. Humans are exceptionally good at picking up various verbal and physical cues (e.g., speech intonation, eye movements,...) that indicate when another human is practicing deception. It’s not new that we humans practice deceit on others and ourselves, but Trivers takes the point much further. Whether it's in a cockpit at takeoff or the planning of an offensive war, a romantic relationship or a dispute at the office, there are many opportunities to lie and self-deceive -- but deceit and self-deception carry the costs of being alienated from reality and can lead to disaster. Trivers' starting point is to illustrate that self-deception is something of an evolutionary puzzle. Well nowhere to be seen when humanity is about that's for sure! The book is enlivened by Trivers’ candid personal style, and is a pleasure to read. This book suffered, however, by a lack of detail in the discussion of studies. Our most prized possession, language, not only strengthens our ability to lie, but also greatly extends it scope. First the author’s honesty and confessional style was refreshing. Proverbs 26:11 uses emblematic parallelism to graphically illustrate the behavior of fools: “As a dog returns to its vomit, so fools repeat their folly.” A fool is known for repeating mistakes rather than learning from past wrongs. Having said that, it's a pity that such a interesting topic has been ruined by his lack of objectivity. A prudent man conceals knowledge, But the heart of fools proclaims folly (12:23, cf. Why do we lack self-knowledge and how does that affect us and other animals? The Folly of Fools The Logic of Deceit and Self-Deception in Human Life Our daily life is effortlessly painted by our ignorance and own deceit and self-deception. In two separate chapters, he made reference to our chimpanzee ancestors. by Basic Books. Add to it that the book's (UK) cover looks half finished and it's a big fat tome (which usually means r. This book was, as a reality show contestant would say, a roller-coaster ride (reality shows: there's a subject of self-deception that Robert Trivers doesn't cover but could have had great fun mining). If human intelligence, which we love to lord over other species, is our defining quality, then why do we, as individuals and cultures, practice self-deceit on a grand and pervasive scale? This has all the makings of a great book. Welcome back. It seems that lying and self deceit are just who we are since they are important factors in our survival as a species. I have been trying to convince myself to write reviews for all the books read, and this is a good time as ever to get started. Robert Trivers has a track record of producing highly original ideas, which have gone on to stimulate much research. In the last chapter, he opines that we'd be better off without most of our (self-)deceptions and that the antidote is to be more self-aware so that we can behave less idiotically. The Folly of Fools assumes the unity of all nature and seeks to comprehend it not merely by observation and reason, but also by subjective impressions, intuition and imagination. This is not self-deceit, which the word does not denote, but deceit of others. Some interesting and unexpected insights that, as the author says, merit greater inspection. The Folly of Fools: The Logic of Deceit and Self-Deception in Human Life (2011, Basic Books, ISBN 0465027555) by Robert Triversis a book that examines the evolutionary explanations for deceit and self-deception. 'Folly' began well enough with a fair overview of the evolutionary rationale and selection pressure towards self-deception. Strongly recommended.[3]. In the earlier portion of the book, Trivers traces the way in which self-deception involved in human beings and other animals, particularly as a tool to make the transmission of the species' genes continue in. It ranges widely across the fields of biology, neurophysiology, anthropology, psychology, immunology, genetics, sociology, religion, history, and politics to show how prevalent lying is, whether in the blister beetle, a tiny bee … Perhaps one o. I bought this book thinking - because the title was so explicit and Penguin had published it under its psychology series - that I knew what it was about and how it would play along. So why does de… The key strength of this book is, in my opinion, its clear focus on the effects and workings of deceit and self-deception in humans, instead of stopping at the animal kingdom - as would be expected of an evolutionary biologist. Yet the latter also give pleasure, so that you survive with good appetite and feel better, so why is the latter not a virtue but an impediment? In fact, I now believe the ideal medicine for a root canal is, in fact, cocaine, and not its chemical analogs (procaine) that numb the pain bud don't make you feel good.". Any self-deception therapists out there? Human beings are just so full of it both as a group and as individuals! He provides numerous examples of this both at the individual level and at the societal level, eventually discussing examples of self-deception in the history of the United States and Israel. Ecclesiastical ritual would also be parodied and higher and lower level clergy would change places. And thus Trivers ranges across biology, anthropology, history and politics to find examples of deception and self-deception in action." These things take some of his credibility, which is sad, because he does have some pretty awesome theories of evolutionary biology under his. However, instead of re-examining Christian values, Robert Trivers goes to the very cell of the living creatures (humans, animals, insects, plants, viruses, and bacteria). At first sight I thought it was going to be deadly dull. TL:DR: Skip Trivers, read Kahneman. And yet there are many parts of this book I found fascinating. We lie to ourselves about ourselves, how others view us, our pasts, what we see or don’t see, what we know and don’t know, and our certainty about all these things. We’d love your help. I rarely give a book five stars, and only if I think it says something new and important. Human beings are just so full of it both as a group and as individuals! A very personal, sometimes a little crazed exploration of the whole issue of self-deception from a leading and interesting evolutionary biologist. Other areas in which he has made influential contributions include an adaptive view of self-deception (first described in 1976) and intragenom. I was positively surprised at being wrong, the book turned out to give much more than I expected. So why does deception play such a prominent role in our everyday lives? A very personal, sometimes a little crazed exploration of the whole issue of self-deception from a leading and interesting evolutionary biologist. Whether it’s in a cockpit at takeoff or the planning of an offensive war, a romantic relationship or a dispute at the office, there are many opportunities to lie and self-deceive—but deceit and self-deception carry the costs of being alienated from reality and can lead to disaster. The best chapters are at the beginning. What I understood of it I thought was insightful and well done. Perhaps most remarkable is how ruthlessly Trivers confronts his own self-delusions…. If human intelligence, which we love to lord over other species, is our defining quality, then why do we, as individuals and cultures, practice self-deceit on a grand and pervasive scale? But I just enjoyed. And thus Trivers ranges across biology, anthropology, history and politics to find examples of deception and self-deception in action.”. He seemed to be unaware that historians are aware of these such “false narratives” and that there is a significant literature in historiography about these. The essence of his analysis is that "the primary reason we fool ourselves is to fool others". Trivers provides many examples of deception and self-deception, often with disastrous long-term consequences, but fails to weave all the threads of his topic into a meaningful whole. All the so called ideals we hold up are no more than part of the same cesspool, seeking self advantage. Other reviewers were more moderate. Indeed someone just told me he (at 70 or so) had been suspended from teaching because he started a course modestly saying he knew nothing much about the subject and was going to learn along with his students. Archetypical behaviors paralleled directl. The tongue of the wise makes knowledge acceptable, But the mouth of fools spouts folly (15:2; cf. I haven't heard of Trivers, but I gather from the bumf he's a bit of a big name academic in his field. Psalm 14 is unique in that it is the first time we are introduced to the biblical definition of the word fool. anyone interested in understanding human nature, I struggled with this book for much of the time I was reading it. "Why We Lie: Reposted with introductory paragraph on Richard Dawkins site", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Folly_of_Fools&oldid=1017562555, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 13 April 2021, at 13:39. Robert Trivers’s new book is a curious document — a book about deception and self-deception that is itself deceptive, in structure, voice and argument. Having said that, it's a pity that such a interesting topic has been ruined by his lack of objectivity. I can't say that the book left me convinced of this, because (as Trivers acknowledges) much more work needs to be done. "The Folly of Fools" is a modern version of the Renaissance work by Erasmus of Rotterdam, "In Praise of Folly". Folly Of The Fool. "We deceive ourselves the better to deceive others" (p3). Biologist Robert Trivers' book The Folly of Fools tells the manifest ways human beings deceive themselves, from politics and religion to science and everyday life. Indeed someone just told me he (at 70 or so) had been suspended from teaching because he started a course modestly saying he knew nothing much about the subject and was going to learn along with his students. the weaknesses of this book are all the more frustrating given the potentially highly important target the aims for — an understanding of how biological self-deception leads to problematic errors and biases in our daily existence. Plus the book is dedicated to the late Huey P. Newton, apparently a friend of the author - now I'm really engaged. An adjective meaning foolish in the sense of one who hates wisdom and walks in folly, despising wisdom and morality - TCWD -- A fool thus despises wisdom and walks in folly B. His personal anecdotes were downright creepy. This is an outstanding work, by an author who looks at the foibles of humanity from the point of view of a biologist. Having read several books about denial and related ideas in psychology, I thought this book would be a great embodiment of the overlapping area of that Venn diagram. What he offers instead is an encyclopedia of human folly ranging from false historical narratives and unjustified warfare to commonplace delusions of grandeur. This was only made worse as the book progressed until Trivers own line of argument - ironically - became a paragon example of the very self-deception he sought to describe. Often in Scripture, a fool is associated with wickedness and a direct denial of God (e.g., in Psalm 53:1). In fact, I now believe the ideal medicine for a root canal is, in fact, cocaine, and not its chemical analogs (procaine) th, "Another problem that baffles me is whence the anti-pleasure bias? The Folly of Fools: The Logic of Deceit and Self-Deception in Human Life (2011, Basic Books, .mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:linear-gradient(transparent,transparent),url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:linear-gradient(transparent,transparent),url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:linear-gradient(transparent,transparent),url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:linear-gradient(transparent,transparent),url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}ISBN 0465027555) by Robert Trivers is a book that examines the evolutionary explanations for deceit and self-deception. His premise is that to survive all the wars and such people evolved in themselves a cunning way to become conmen (and -women and -sexually nondescript).