From: Robin Hanson (rhanson@gmu.edu)
Date: Mon Jun 16 2003 - 21:45:34 MDT
On 6/17/2003, Emlyn O'regan wrote:
>Now we are getting into confused territory. There is a difference between
>knowing the truth and being truthful. It may be a bad idea to tell your
>girlfriend that she is average (LOL!) on your girlfriend-o-meter, but it's
>probably better to know that you really feel that way yourself. ...
>It seems to be perfectly rational, in a social context, to lie; in fact,
>many people do it most of the time, rationally.
Evolution seems to have discovered differently. It has not given us the
habit of thought of having accurate estimates and then sometimes lying
about them. People seem to more often honestly believe what they tell
their girlfriends, but to honestly believe things that are biased. In
the moment he says that he loves only her, that she is the only person
for him, and that he will always want her, he believes it. But he
consistently over-estimates all this. The same goes for patriotism, the
topic that started this thread. Most people seem to honestly believe
that their country is better than other ones; it is not that they really
think otherwise but lie when asked about their country.
Robin Hanson rhanson@gmu.edu http://hanson.gmu.edu
Assistant Professor of Economics, George Mason University
MSN 1D3, Carow Hall, Fairfax VA 22030-4444
703-993-2326 FAX: 703-993-2323
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