Deception, The Fuel That Runs The World

Consider the beauty of peacock's tail. How elaborate the colors. How magnificent they spread across space so they can capture attention. Nonetheless, this creature is entirely defenseless against predators. With no flight ability and quite sluggish on the ground, it becomes an easy prey for just about anything. Yet, the peacock, is one of the most successful species that ever existed. We know this because 99.9% (or more) of all the species that ever walked on this planet are now extinct. So how this fancy bird managed to survive among the elite?

Every species, including humans, employs specific mechanisms to strategically manipulate their environment. The peacock chose an elaborate design so it can breed as much as possible. Fucking its brain out and having as many descendants as possible was at some point the only weapon it had for ensuring propagation of its genes.

Now, we wouldn’t call that the peacock acts deceitful towards the peahen (female). It just happens to fulfill its peculiar nature after all. The more elaborate and attractive the feathers, the more likely the female will mate with him. Do the feathers matter towards mating or ensuring better genes? Absolutely not. It just happened that evolution took a random turn at some point based on a given ecological imperative. If the adaptation was favorable it stuck around amidst all of the other changes that were taking place.

If all of our actions are ultimately premeditated from our environment, then nothing we do is purposefully deceitful. Evolution doesn’t plan. It is just a impartial, random process that happens to favor from time to time specific mechanisms in species.

Those mechanisms on their turn, shape-shift different dynamics that can favor one organism over another. This also happens within the population of the species itself. Individuals compete with each other either by using their groups (group selection theory) or their individual genes (selfish gene theory). Either way at some point, what might be considered advantageous for an organism at a given era might not be for another.

Humans are not exception to the evolutionary game. We are obsessed with building muscles because our outdated instincts believe that a fit body will be able to provide more resources to the female — thus ensuring survival. Of Course, this is not the case since today most people in our environment make a living by being drilled on a chair. A white collar income can provide much more than a factory worker with impressive physique.

We all get sucked into evolution’s game without even realizing it. We find tanned people sexy because it indicates exposure to the elements of nature — an indication of survival instincts. In Asia, being white is considered equally sexy because it shows that a woman doesn’t have to work in the fields — yet again another social meme in place. Just a few hundred years ago men were dressing much like women to express nobility.

We are all aware of the rules of the trick of evolution. We know exactly why we wear makeup in order to alter our image. We know very well how much of an impact a bank account can have, even if we don’t have any other qualities. Heck, we even know that a box of chocolates demonstrates affection, yet we fall for the trick every single time. We have been brought up to believe in a series of memes. We play deception tricks to get ahead of the game because we have no other choice.

Peculiarly enough, we might not get upset with the push-up bra or the fake hair but we do get upset if someone lies about the amount of their past partners. We are very selective about the kind of deception we allow in our life. Only some versions are acceptable (usually those who are mostly popular).

Next time you check that fancy billboard with the delicious burger picture, you will still drool — even though you know that you are never gonna taste that modeled burger. Same thing will happen when you meet someone dressed in a nice suite speaking in an eloquent manner. It is almost as if we have a clear-cache mechanism that doesn't allow us to store this kind of information in the long term memory of our system.

I personally find it hard to bond with people for this very reason. Although I am well aware of the process and its origins, something inside me hesitates to engage on a deeper level. It feels much like throwing a bone to a dog — it will lash to get it every single time. It might be fun at the beginning but it gets old and predictable. 60% of people can’t go 10 minutes without lying. By the age of 4 if a child does not learn to lie, they will have behavioral problems later on in life. Deception is an art one masters slowly through their lifetime. A game of strategy if you like that can be employed equally by army generals or financial advisors.

Whether one choses to play the game of deception remains irrelevant - as the peacock also discovered. Sooner or later life will challenge us with it whether we like it or not. We all believe that we hover “above” the game but we fall short time after time. After all, the first victim of deception is the one who thinks is above it.