This is a book about the lies we tell ourselves. The most intimate and treacherous relationship a person ever has is with him or herself. Why are we so spontaneously inclined to deceive ourselves - to believe our powers greater and impulses purer than they are? And how is the trick achieved?
In the natural world, it surveys the art of deception, from orchids simulating female insects in order to trick the males, to human babies simulating misery in order to manipulate their parents; it considers chemical deception introduced into the body by drugs. It unmasks the degree of self-interest and partiality we hide from ourselves but are very ready to spot in others. Of profound interest is the paradox which allows one part of the mind to lie to another, and Giannetti weighs up the implications of this internal hypocrisy from an ethical point of view as it reflects on the individual and impacts on society.
