Hypocrisy and self deception. Matt Ridley

The science of evolutionary psychology has flourished in recent years by asking "why" as well as "how" questions about animal and human behavior, and answering them with historical explanations.

For example, why are most male mammals keen on promiscuity, while most female mammals are keen on picking high-status mates? Because—given that fertilization takes seconds, while gestation and lactation take years—mammals are often descended from philandering males or females that chose resource-holding mates, but not so often from promiscuous females or choosy males.

Evolutionary psychologists are now turning their attention to more culturally variable cognitive conundrums. Hypocrisy and self-deception, for example. Last year Robert Kurzban of the University of Pennsylvania published a book called "Why Everyone (Else) Is a Hypocrite," and this month Robert Trivers will publish a complementary explanation of self-deception in his book "The Folly of Fools."

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Fuente: Francisco Capella.