Contributor(s): Professor Robert Trivers | After decades of research, one of the most influential theoretical evolutionary biologists of our time has returned to found the principles of a provocative new science on why we lie to ourselves. Robert Trivers argues that we deceive ourselves the better to deceive others. Self-deception is something we all practice and it is diverse, widespread and powerful. It can also apply to a wide range of phenomena from airplane crashes, to false historical narratives, war, and religions. Robert Trivers has been acclaimed as one of 100 greatest thinkers and scientists of the twentieth century by Time magazine and has been on the faculty at Harvard, the University of California, Santa Cruz, and Rutgers University. His new book is Deceit and Self-Deception: Fooling Yourself the Better to Fool Others.