The liars of nature and the nature of liars : cheating and deception in the living world / Lixing Sun.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sun, Lixing, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Adaptation (Biology).

Deception.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (289 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, [2023]

Summary:

A natural history of cheating from selfish genes to lying politiciansNature is rife with cheating. Possums play possum, feigning death to cheat predators. Crows cry wolf to scare off rivals. Amphibians and reptiles are inveterate impostors. Even genes and cells cheat. The Liars of Nature and the Nature of Liars explores the evolution of cheating in the natural world, revealing how dishonesty has given rise to wondrous diversity.Blending cutting-edge science with a wealth of illuminating examples—from microscopic organisms to highly intelligent birds and mammals—Lixing Sun shows how cheating in nature relies on two basic rules. One is lying, by which cheaters exploit honest messages in communication signals and use them to serve their own interests. The other is deceiving, by which cheaters exploit the biases and loopholes in the sensory systems of other creatures. Sun demonstrates that cheating serves as a potent catalyst in the evolutionary arms race between the cheating and the cheated, resulting in a biological world teeming with complexity and beauty.Brimming with insight and humor, The Liars of Nature and the Nature of Liars also looks at the prevalence of cheating in human society, identifying the kinds of cheating that spur innovation and cultural vitality and laying down a blueprint for combatting malicious cheating such as fake news and disinformation.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Chapter 1 Liar, Liar, Everywhere

Chapter 2 Hackers and Suckers in Communication

Chapter 3 Nature’s Eavesdroppers, Impostors, and Con Artists

Chapter 4 Infidelity and the Rise of Honesty

Chapter 5 Catalyst for Innovation

Chapter 6 Cheating in Humans

Chapter 7 Liars Who Lie to Themselves

Chapter 8 Living with Lies and Deceptions

Acknowledgments

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780691245737

0691245738

OCLC:

1351436602