#evil genes

To LIE:

1. To speak falsely or utter untruth knowingly, as with intent to deceive.

2. To express what is false; convey a false impression.

In every election cycle we are carpet bombed with candidate speeches and ads from both sides followed by talking heads' analyses, fact checker's posts and politician’s excuses and cover-ups for mis-statements.

We all know that politicians lie and television ads are deceptive. So, what's the big deal?

I mean, does anyone really believe that adding vitamins, calcium, omega 3 oils, etc. to junk foods somehow makes them better and healthier than regular junk foods?

Or, does anyone really believe that evolution is just a theory, the same as creationism? And, that angels are real? Or, that global warming is a hoax?

Did America believe that Saddam Hussein was responsible for taking down the World Trade Centers and that he had weapons of mass destruction?

We live in a world of politics, marketing, and religions that feed us an incessant diet of lies and myths to the extent that ascertaining the truth, which requires critical thinking and analysis, is much more difficult.

Propagandists from Joseph Goebbels to Lee Atwater, Karl Rove and Fox News have known and used this, as do all marketers/advertisers:

“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it....the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie.”

The bigger question is why do lies work? Why is it so easy to believe a lie, and often harder to see the truth? The answer may have to do with both how our brains are wired and how we evolved as a social species.

Among other things, the wiring has to do with memory which evolved to allow us to quickly adapt to new experiences and situations. The more important and meaningful ones, those most likely to be relevant to future situations, get tagged with emotional signals for rapid retrieval in decision making, thinking and analysis.

We humans have two distinct types of memory: declarative or explicit memory; memories of facts and events involving conscious/active and direct retrieval. And, non-declarative or implicit memories that are expressed through behaviors/actions (habits, skills, conditioning; such as riding a bike, tying your shoes, typing, driving, etc.)…actions easily executed without thought.

There are two aspects of implicit memory that help explain why repetition of lies, or anything else (ads/slogans, etc), is effective at influencing your interpretation of the world and hence, your behaviors.

The mere exposure effect: the more we are exposed to something (object, person, product, politician, etc) the more we come to prefer it, whether or not we recollect ever having seen it.

The illusion-of-truth effect: we are more likely to believe that a statement is true (political slogans/ads, religious canons, propaganda, marketing, etc.) if we have heard it before (a familiar statement)—whether or not it is actually true—even if we have no recollection of having heard it before.

One can easily see how easily we can be misled and manipulated and the dangers therein.

In addition, the fact that we evolved as social pack animals probably also makes us prone to deception.

Social interaction, being emotionally connected and part of a group, requires cooperation that seemingly is hardwired into our brains..ie: “our tendency to trust and cooperate with others is rooted in brain anatomy and function.” However, some of us are less trustworthy and cooperative than others.

In her book Evil Genes, Barbara Oakley, writes: “We all know that genes have dramatic effects on virtually every aspect of the human body—height, weight, skin color, and even the ability to process oxygen. But sometimes we forget how important genes are in shaping personality. And, while no single gene by itself can predict personality....alleles of particular genes can help underpin the dysfunctional behavior that can lead to a problematic personality or full-blown pathology. In a sense, you might call them evil genes.”

While most of us want to believe we are honest we know that, at times, we rationalize some of our actions and cheat just a little, to benefit from small dishonesties. Those that rationalize more are comfortable with cheating more.

Those among us, who lack obvious psychopathology, but believe that lying, cheating, deceit and manipulation are acceptable forms of behavior to achieve self-gain are sometimes called Machiavellian personalities; and, all-to-often, describe politicians.

Machiavelli's, The Prince, was published in 1532. In it he gives “matter-of-fact instruction that rulers must be prepared to lie, cheat and steal to hang on to their thrones — all the while acting the part of the benevolent leader.” Does that sound way too familiar?

The good news is that for most of us, “the brain appears to be so strongly wiredfor cooperation that we do the right thing, just because morality works as a social institution.”