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Deceiving Ourselves About Self-Deception

Deceiving Ourselves About Self-Deception
Deceiving Ourselves About Self-Deception
Were we just the Darwinian adaptive survival/reproduction machines Von Hippel & Trivers invoke to explain us, the self-deception problem would not only be simpler but non-existent. Why would unconscious robots bother to misinform themselves so as to misinform others more effectively? But as we are indeed conscious rather than unconscious robots, the problem is explaining the causal role of consciousness itself, not just its supererogatory tendency to misinform itself so as to misinform (or perform) better.
deception, self-deception, consciousness, feeling, free will, volition, evolution, evolutionary psychology, robotics, functionalism, causation
0140-525X
Harnad, Stevan
442ee520-71a1-4283-8e01-106693487d8b
Harnad, Stevan
442ee520-71a1-4283-8e01-106693487d8b

Harnad, Stevan (2010) Deceiving Ourselves About Self-Deception. Behavioral and Brain Sciences. (In Press)

Record type: Article

Abstract

Were we just the Darwinian adaptive survival/reproduction machines Von Hippel & Trivers invoke to explain us, the self-deception problem would not only be simpler but non-existent. Why would unconscious robots bother to misinform themselves so as to misinform others more effectively? But as we are indeed conscious rather than unconscious robots, the problem is explaining the causal role of consciousness itself, not just its supererogatory tendency to misinform itself so as to misinform (or perform) better.

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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 2010
Additional Information: Commentary On: Von Hippel & Trivers "The Evolution and Psychology of Self-Deception"] Behavioral and Brain Sciences (in press)
Keywords: deception, self-deception, consciousness, feeling, free will, volition, evolution, evolutionary psychology, robotics, functionalism, causation
Organisations: Web & Internet Science

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 271430
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/271430
ISSN: 0140-525X
PURE UUID: c6e18879-494f-4775-8b00-344bbda39ac4
ORCID for Stevan Harnad: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-6153-1129

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Date deposited: 20 Jul 2010 12:26
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 02:48

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Author: Stevan Harnad ORCID iD

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