Do animals lie? Life brings all kinds of difficulties and obstacles to their survival machines, and how successful this program can be in dealing with all these difficulties and obstacles is the basis for judging the merits of these genes. By influence I mean direct, accidental. There are many examples of contact: the singing of birds, frogs and crickets; the wagging of dogs' tails and the erection of long neck hair; chimpanzees' "teeth-baring and laughing"; human gestures and language. Animals that receive this information and react immediately will undoubtedly benefit. Therefore, this information can be said to be true. But do animals send false messages? Do they lie? However, whenever there is a conflict of interest between the genes of different individuals, it is inevitable that behaviors such as lying and deception and the use of contact methods for selfish purposes will inevitably occur.

Genes are good programmers, and they program for their own existence.

<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="22" > life brings all kinds of difficulties and obstacles to their survival machines, and how successful the program can be in dealing with all these difficulties and dangers is the basis for judging the merits of these genes. </h1>

This judgment is callous and inexorable, and it is related to the survival of genes. Below we're going to talk about ways to promote genetic survival with superficial altruistic behavior.

I'm going to mention here a particular kind of behavior that we can summarize as communication. We can say that when a living machine exerts influence on the behavior of another living machine or the state of its nervous system, the former is in contact with the latter.

<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="23" > I mean direct, incidental effects. There are many examples of contact: the singing of birds, frogs and crickets; the wagging of dogs' tails and the erection of long neck hair; chimpanzees' "teeth-baring and laughing"; human gestures and language. </h1>

The actions of many survival machines promote the interests of their own genes through indirect means of influencing the behavior of other survival machines. Various animals do everything in their power to make this form of communication effective.

The traditional saying of animal behaviorists is that the gradual improvement of the contact signal is beneficial to both the signaler and the receiver.

For example, the screams of chicks when they get lost or freeze can affect the behavior of the hens. The hens usually respond when they hear this squeaky chirp and bring the chicks back to the flock.

We can say that this behavior is formed because it brings benefits to both parties; natural selection favors chicks that squeak after getting lost, and it also favors hens who react appropriately when they hear this cry.

If we want to (and not necessarily), we can think of signals like chicks calling as having some meaning or conveying some kind of message. In this case, the call is the equivalent of "I'm lost!" The alarm sound of the birds I mentioned in the first chapter relayed "Here comes the eagle!" "This information.

<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="24" > animals that receive this information and react immediately will undoubtedly benefit. Therefore, this information can be said to be true. But do animals send false messages? Do they lie? </h1>

If a bird uses the signal "the eagle is coming" in the absence of an eagle, thus scaring its companions away and giving it a chance to stay and eat all the food, we can say that it is lying.

We're not saying it deliberately deceives. We are referring only to the fact that the liar obtains food at the expense of his companions. The other birds flew away because they reacted normally when they heard a liar call the police, in the event of a real eagle.

Many edible insects, such as butterflies, mimic the appearance of other bad-tasting or prickly insects in order to protect themselves. We ourselves are often deceived into thinking that an aphid fly with yellow and black stripes is a wasp. Some flies are even more subtle when simulating bees.

Carnivores also lie. The anglerfish waited patiently on the bottom of the sea, hiding itself in its surroundings, and the only touching part was a muscle that squirmed like a worm, which hung from the end of a long "fishing rod" protruding from the head of the fish. When the small fish swims closer, the angler fish will shake its insect-like hook bait in front of the small fish, leading the small fish to its invisible mouth. The big mouth suddenly opened, and the small fish was swallowed by the small fish. Anglers are also lying. It takes advantage of the habit of small fish that like to swim close to things that squirm like worms.

Whenever a system of communication gradually takes shape, the risk arises: some organisms use the system for their own personal gain.

Since we have always been influenced by the evolutionary view of "species interests," we naturally first think that liars and deceivers belong to different species: predatory animals, predatory animals, parasites, and so on.

<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="21" > However, whenever there is a conflict of interest between the genes of different individuals, it is inevitable that there will be lies, deception, and contact for selfish purposes. </h1>

This includes different individuals belonging to the same species. We will see that even children deceive their parents, husbands deceive their wives, and brothers deceive each other.

Some believe that animal contact signals were originally developed for mutual benefit, but were later exploited by bad elements. This kind of thinking is too naïve after all. The reality is likely to be that from the outset, all animal contact behaviors have some element of fraud, because all animals are at least involved in some kind of conflict of interest in interacting with each other.