Dr. Robert Trivers on the evolutionary psychology of lying and self-deception

Welcome to HumanLab: The Science Between Us, with Amy Alkon interviewing the luminaries of behavioral science.

This is a "Best Of" replay for the holidays. My guest, from back in 2012, is one of the rock stars of anthropology, Dr. Robert Trivers, talking about his very interesting book, "The Folly of Fools," on deception and self-deception.

He lays out how we evolved to be liars, and how, in order to lie better to others, we often lie to ourselves first. (Even infants practice deception.) We'll discuss the myths people believe about how they can detect lies, how “cognitive load” (limitations of memory and mind) plays a big part in our detection of deception in others, and how minimizing it in ourselves helps lesson our chances in getting caught in a lie.

Join me and all my fascinating guests every Sunday, 7-7:30 p.m. Pacific Time, 10-10:30 p.m. Eastern Time, at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.

Please buy my book, the well-reviewed, evolutionary psychology-based, unprissy, and funny "Good Manners for Nice People Who Sometimes Say F*ck" (which happens to include some of the research and thinking of tonight's guest).