Deceptive signaling is evolutionarily widespread across the animal kingdom

Evidence

I say this because I know how easy it is to fool people – I do it for a living! We do it because it helps us understand how the process works. But I’m not the only one. The strategic use of misinformation is widespread throughout the animal kingdom and can be advantageous from an evolutionary standpoint. For example, prey will often use (sensory) misinformation tactics to make themselves less attractive to predators by feigning death or mimicking inedible objects such as leaves. Because we either lack the skills to spot the manipulation attempt or don’t have the time to figure it out, biases in our cognitive system can be exploited by others. In order to synthesize and develop a psychological vaccine, we therefore need to understand not only the virus but also how our cognitive immune system operates. — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof, 55

Categorization

• XREF: The virus/vaccine inoculation metaphor and evolutionary framing connect to the reader’s cognitive psychology and signaling-theory material (e.g., the trust/reputation-focused books). — connects to: The freeloader dilemma drives evolution of cues discriminating cooperators from cheats.; Skilled deceivers exploit trustworthiness signals for strategic gain — Russell Hardin, Trust and Trustworthiness, 578

Broader Connections

• Skilled deceivers exploit trustworthiness signals for strategic gain #exemplifies (0.85) — Russell Hardin, Trust and Trustworthiness, 578
• The freeloader dilemma drives evolution of cues discriminating cooperators from cheats. #corroborates (0.72)