I have recently been exploring a Homo Hypocritus (man the sly rule bender) view of human nature, that humans have hugemongous brains in order to conspire to evade social norms. I’ve also known and respected Robert Kurzban for far longer, and so was excited to see his new book, Why Everyone (Else) Is a Hypocrite: Evolution and the Modular Mind. Alas, while he has lots of thoughtful insight to offer along the way (the book is worth reading), Kurzban’s main thesis seems to be that humans are accidental hypocrites, since pretty much any evolved creatures with social norms would be hypocrites, because it is just too hard to be fully consistent:
The key to understanding our behavioral inconsistencies lies in understanding the mind’s design. The human mind consists of many specialized units designed by the process of evolution by natural selection. While these modules sometimes work together seamlessly, they don’t always, resulting in impossibly contradictory beliefs, vacillations between patience and impulsiveness, violations of our supposed moral principles, and overinflated views of ourselves.
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