Golden Lies: How Lying (and Catching Lies) Drove Human Evolution, Sparked Language, and Kindled Civilization

From the dawn of human evolution to the future of social media, shared falsehoods coerce cooperation in communities.

Social media is spreading lies, hatred, and chaos. Wars are destroying eastern Ukraine and Gaza. Democracy is in retreat around the world. Widespread violence is imaginable after the 2024 election.

Why is this happening now? Have similar periods occurred in the past?

The human cerebral cortex evolved not from natural selection but from sexual selection. Large brains consume calories, need to be kept warm, are easily injured, and kill women in childbirth. A large cerebral cortex has no specific purpose — it solves problems in new ways. Our cerebral cortex is like a peacock’s tail feathers. But what’s sexy about a cerebral cortex?

Lying and catching lies increased our ancestors’ reproductive success. Men lied about marriage. Women lied about who fathered a child. Men lied about their wealth and status. Women lied to get men to support them. And talking to community members enabled men and women to catch liars and avoid cads and freeloaders. Lying and catching lies drove human evolution and the evolution of language.