G'day G'day Folks,
Have you ever completed a psychology test that asked,
"When you were a child did you ever tell lies?"
The assumption is that everybody told lies during their childhood. If you answer, "No." then that is considered to be an indicator of self deception.IMHO the question would have been more fascinating if it had read,
"When you were a child was there ever a time when you didn't tell lies."As it happens, the answer is yes. Yes, even for the most inveterate of liars. It seems that regardless of culture, up until the age of four child believe that what they believe, is what other people believe. Somewhere between the ages of four and four and a half they realise that other people can believe things that are not true.
This is called Theory of Mind or ToM for short.
The classic test to find out if you a ToM boy or girl is a story that involves two dolls called Sally and Anne. Sally has some sweets and hides them under a cushion. She then leaves the room. While Sally is out of the room, Anne takes the sweets from under the cushion and hides them in her pocket. Sally then re-enters the room. Now, wait for it.
Here is the big ToM test question.
Where does Sally think the sweets are?
Pre-ToMs say "In Anne's pocket." because they know that is true and in their model of the world, truth is universal.
ToMs say "Under the cushion where she left it." because they comprehend someone else holding a different map of the world to their own.
It would appear that the ability to comprehend fiction is a milestone in evolution. ToM is required in order to lie convincingly.
The efforts of the vervet monkey who inspired, "Please let me be brilliant." almost made it.
Scientific experiments strongly suggest most animals cannot ToM. Though I know a certain dog who does a pretty good act of not being able to jump in the car when its time to return from the beach I'm prepared to believe this is a learnt pattern based on experience.
Chimps who share 98% of the same genes as humans, can ToM.
Monkey's can't. So fiction and with it the telling of fiction for personal gain, is of recent evolutionary times.
Are there humans who never lie? It appears there are. Autistics never reach the ToM stage. Much of their behaviour can be understood on the assumption that they do not distinguish sentient beings from objects.
Now what is the next evolutionary step?
One possibility is ToM-ToM.
Would that involve comprehending that what you believe some else believes is in fact not true?
Well here's to thoughts you never had,
The fun in over to you.
How about a Mind Snap
Quentin Grady ^ ^ / New Zealand, >#,#< [ / \ /\ "... and the blind dog was leading."