Re: FW:

briefly, trivers and I share the same belief in the major=role of deception. - a tool to protect or conquer =ree energy.. in essence if the predator can read your algorit=m, you are easy food . so deception is the first line of defen=e as it usually the cheapest. if a prey knows its own algorit=m it is open to interrogation. so nature hides it =rom the" self". Deceptive self confidence is also a =inning game strategy. Ants engage in the p=actise of mimetic. camouflage. , false direction. etc. T= some extent, so do most viruses. ie since HIV clearly m=squerades itself as a unit of self. your question re is =eception increasing, - yes as fast as methods of detecti=n. note I assume you are awake

Jeff -= much longer discussion, but not sure I even made my questions clear:

(1). I don't question that there is a line of evolutionary thinking und=r which deception is highly adaptive (and in this sense, it is quite compa=ible with the findings of science). I meant it more as a question of=the sociology of science: If there is a lot of deception in science,=then there are a lot of fake scientists trying to get government grant mon=y and thereby replace the real scientists. I think this is a pretty =ig phenomenon and seriously underestimated.

(2). The related question of whether the amount of deception goes up or dow= over time is not about evolutionary biology (since I assume our evolution=ry nature doesn't change that quickly), but more about politics and te=hnology. Thus, if there are better ways of detecting deception, then=there may be less taking place (the cost/benefit calculus just shifts). =AO And perhaps conversely, if there is a stronger government, then perhaps=it will be able to get away with more deception (think fascist/communist p=opaganda, or Orwell's 1984) and will find it easier to pretend that it=is solving problems than actually to solve problems.

evolution seems to invade culture as well as biological sy=tems. in any socially competitive game govt=C2 . grants. relationships deception is a usefu= strategy, when you have observers, even more so. =s it provides leverage over a group at a small cost/. and yes =uch more to discuss