Nature is rife with cheating. The Liars of Nature and the Nature of Liars explores the evolution of cheating in the natural world, revealing how dishonesty has given rise to wondrous diversity.
Sun is given to punchy pronouncements ... This claim—that the 'laws' of cheating are universal—is key to The Liars of Nature and the Nature of Liars ... It also explains how Sun ends up as an apologist for humanity’s cheating ways. Lying is in Homo sapiens’ genes, and it has had much the same generative force as deceit in the wild. Indeed, by Sun’s account, it is responsible for human culture ... How to explain [Sun's] apparent credulity? Was he actually duped by Abagnale? Or is he only pretending to be, to demonstrate his larger point about the power of deceit? Honestly, who can say?
The accessible prose offers an eye-opening take on lying in the natural world and how evolutionary pressures to deceive impact human behavior. The smart parallels between humans and animals make for an insightful outing.
