Deceit, Deception, and Strong Opinions: Trivers on This, That, and Almost Everything but Biology

Reviews the book, The Folly of Fools: The Logic of Deceit and Self-Deception in Human Life by Robert Trivers (see record 2011-24018-000). This book is based on the idea that a great deal about everyday life could be explained much better if we paid more attention to the ways in which we human beings tend to deceive others and even ourselves. In the reviewer's opinion, it is certainly true that this book is “provocative,” as Richard Dawkins is quoted as saying on the book jacket. But the reviewer asserts that it is not a work of broad science or deep scholarship; there are other books that teach far more about biology. There are interesting comments on biological topics, but there is no systematic effort to support the central thesis with biological evidence. Trivers offers all kinds of interesting arguments about a diverse range of topics, ranging from aerial bombing, apes, and the benefits of strong outbreeding for African Americans, to insects, false memory syndrome, male infanticide, and Zionism. But the general biological theory does not really help to explain most of the subjects in a truly scientific manner. The reviewer asserts that this book is not a work of true scholarship or even an excellent presentation of basic scientific ideas to a wider audience. Instead, it is a motley assemblage of opinions on this, that, and just about everything but biology. The reviewer concludes that this book is often stimulating, but would not be a good textbook for students. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)