Abstract
“Know yourself” is one of the most ancient of all injunctions. Although some primates possess the ability to recognize their own faces, and therefore must possess a rudimentary sense of self (Gallup, 1977), humans appear to be unique among animals in their ability to know themselves. What is the nature of this ability? How did it evolve, and why? How effective are the processes through which people acquire self-knowledge, and how valid are the story by telling its end, we will conclude that it often is maladaptive to perceive oneself accurately, that people are at least as adept at self-serving way, and that people are at least as adept at self-deception as they are at self-perception.
Man’s brain, like the rest of him, may be looked upon as a bundle of adaptations. But what it is adapted to has never been self-evident. We are anything but a mechanism set up to perceive the truth for its own sake. Rather, we have evolved a nervous system that acts in the interest of our gonads, and one attuned to the demands of reproductive competition. If fools are more prolific than wise men, then to that degree folly will be favored by selection. And if ignorance aids in obtaining a mate, then men and women will tend to be ignorant. In order for so imperfect an instrument as a human brain to perceive the world as it really is, a great deal of self-discipline must be imposed.
Michael T. Ghiselin
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Krebs, D., Denton, K., Higgins, N.C. (1988). On the Evolution of Self-Knowledge and Self-Deception. In: MacDonald, K.B. (eds) Sociobiological Perspectives on Human Development. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-3760-0_4
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