Why Do Humans Lie? An Evolutionary Biologist Explains How It Helped Us Survive
Deception is a widespread evolutionary strategy observed across the tree of life, not exclusive to humans. Biologists view deception as a selective pressure that provides an advantage to organisms capable of manipulating others, but it is balanced by the necessity of honesty as a baseline for signals to retain meaning. Neuroimaging research indicates that lying is cognitively demanding, activating a broad network of brain regions including the prefrontal cortex, which is crucial for executive functions like planning and inhibition. AI
