Adaptation
A biological trait that helps an organism to survive and reproduce.
Adaptive
Helping an organism to thrive and reproduce.
Altruism
Behavior that benefits another, while being detrimental to the individual.
Arms race
In an evolutionary context, this is a competition between two populations, usually two species, where traits on both sides evolve in response to the evolution of traits on the other side. An example is a predator-prey competition where both sides evolve to be faster and faster, thus maintaining the balance.
Assumptions
(one of the four reasons why we do not always behave in ways that benefit our genes: FAIL) Our inability to perfectly access information from the world around us. Because there is some information that we cannot obtain, we have to make assumptions to fill in the gaps; we have to use proxies for the information that we cannot obtain.
Attack/Counter-attack
(defined in this book as one of the five strategies that we use to cope with our insecurity) Attacking something that makes us, or threatens to make us, feel insecure.
Authority insecurity
(as part of the SAFE framework) Fear about our position in the tribe (or society). As defined in this book, authority refers to both our overall status and our ranking (our position in one of the many different aspects of status).
Bearing
In this book, the traits promoted by procreation selection that increase our ability to have children (as opposed to caring traits that increase our ability to look after the children after they have been born).
Behaviorism
A school of psychology founded by John B. Watson (1878-1958) that holds that behavior can be described scientifically without having to consider internal components such as mood an cognition (which are deemed too subjective). The theory states that our behavior is shaped by our responses to environmental stimuli, rather than by emotions and thoughts. Emotions, then, are not the cause of behavior, but part of the behavior itself, part of the response.
Bias
A predictable or consistent error.
Blank slate
The thesis that we are born with no mental systems; all of our knowledge comes from experience.
Byproduct
(also called a spandrel) In evolutionary terms, a byproduct is a trait that is an incidental consequence of a trait picked by natural selection because of its evolutionary benefits (an adaptation). Unlike an adaptation, a byproduct offers no benefits to the genes.
Caregiver
The male mating strategy of having just a few offspring with one partner but providing paternal care to, at least in the Pleistocene, increase their chances of survival (as opposed to the Casanova strategy)
Caring
In this book, the traits promoted by procreation selection that increase our ability to look after our children (as opposed to bearing traits that increase our ability to have the children in the first place).
Casanova
The male mating strategy of having large numbers of offspring from multiple partners, but not providing for their upbringing, which means that, in the Pleistocene at least, a percentage will not survive (as opposed to the caregiver strategy)
Cognitive dissonance
The feeling of trying to hold conflicting ideas in our heads at the same time. The feeling is unpleasant and so we are driven to try and remove it by altering our beliefs.
Compensation
The drive to excel in one area to make up for perceived areas in another.
Competing
In this book, the traits promoted by procreation selection that help us to drive off competitors of the same sex, so that we have greater access to mates of the opposite sex (the counterpart to courting).
Concealed fear framework
A framework presented in this book for understanding human behavior based on the notions that humans evolved to be afraid, and also evolved to conceal our fear.
Consistency
The strong urge to act in a consistent manner, especially when we have made a public commitment.
Courting
In this book, the traits promoted by procreation selection that help us to attract the opposite sex (the counterpart to competing).
Defend
(defined in this book as one of the five strategies that we use to cope with our insecurity) Fighting against the causes of our insecurity.
Denial
Using our powers of self-deception to remove the potency from a source of insecurity by pretending that it does not exist.
Developmental stability
The resistance to changes in the development of an organism brought about by fluctuations in the environmental conditions.
Dramaturgy
The theory that our personalities are not stable entities; they are continually recreated as we interact with other people. Who we are is an act. The theory is an essential component of the Mask concept in this book.
Ecological niche
The part of a habitat that an organism occupies.
Ego
(one of the three parts of the psyche defined by Sigmund Freud) The ego is the conscious, organized component, the mediator between the person and reality. In this book ego means our self-image, feelings of self-worth, the picture of ourselves in our internal model that depicts how good we believe we will be at having grandchildren.
Environment insecurity
(as part of the SAFE framework) Fear about the environment around us.
Escalation
In this book, escalation is the increased force with which we defend a position if the position is weak.
Evolution
The change in inherited traits (defined by our genes) in a population of organisms through the processes of natural selection.
Faction insecurity
(as part of the SAFE framework) Fear about the strength of the tribe (or society).
FAIL framework
In this book, the four reasons why we do not necessarily act in the optimum way for our genes: Forgetting, Assumptions, Intelligence and Loopholes.
The Fear
In this book, “fear” is used interchangeably with “insecurity.” Our insecurity is how bad we feel we are at dealing with future problems (especially the problems of surviving and procreating), as distinct from “inadequacy” which is how bad we actually are at dealing with future problems.
Fitness
The relative ability of one set of genes to survive and reproduce compared to another .
Forgetting
(one of the four reasons why we do not always behave in ways that benefit our genes: FAIL) Our inability to perfectly access information from our own heads.
Free-rider
Someone that benefits from a collective effort, without contributing to that effort.
Gene
A sequence of DNA that is at once long enough to contain some biological information, but short enough to remain intact despite many generations of sexual recombination. The gene is the basic unit of heredity, and to understand how the process of natural selection works it is helpful to think of us behaving in a way that helps our genes to spread through the population.
Gene pool
The full set of genes in a population.
Ghost in the machine
A phrase used by the philosopher Gilbert Ryle (1900-1976) to describe the mind-body dualism of René Descartes (1596-1650), which suggests that the mind is a nonphysical entity; the mind, which contains consciousness and self-awareness (the ghost), is distinct from the brain, which contains intelligence (the machine).
Habituation
The gradual reduction in the response to a stimulus.
Handicap signal
A signal that is trustworthy because, if the information was untrue, the communicator would suffer a cost that would be difficult to bear. The handicap principle was originally suggested by Amotz Zahavi in 1975.
Heuristic
A speculative rule, based on experience that can help in problem solving. A rule of thumb.
Hijacking
In an evolutionary context, hijacking is the use of a trait for one evolutionary purpose, which is different from the purpose for which it originally developed.
Hindsight bias
Our tendency to change our belief about past events based on new information, so that we believe (incorrectly) that “we knew it all along.”
Id
(one of the three parts of the psyche defined by Sigmund Freud) The id is the unconscious, instinctive component, the source of our needs and drives.
Idiosyncratic
One of the seven aspects of insecurity; it refers to the individual nature of insecurity. We each have our own primary insecurities dictated by our personal experiences.
Imagined
One of the seven aspects of insecurity; it refers to the source of our insecurities, which is not how good or bad we are at dealing with life’s challenges, but how good or bad we feel we are at dealing with life’s challenges. Our insecurity is not the same as our inadequacy, in other words.
Inadequacy
In this book, the term “inadequacy” is used to describe how bad we actually are at dealing with future problems, as distinct from “insecurity” which is how bad we feel we are at dealing with future problems.
Inadmissible
One of the seven aspects of insecurity; it refers to our reluctance to acknowledge our insecurity because of the loss in status and mating opportunities that might result.
Individual selection
(one of the three main mechanisms of natural selection) The promotion of traits that help us to survive.
Inexhaustible
One of the seven aspects of insecurity; it describes the continual influence that insecurity has over us; when we have dealt with one aspect of insecurity, we look for another aspect to focus on.
Insecurity
In this book, “insecurity” is used to describe how bad we feel we are at dealing with future problems (especially the problems of surviving and procreating), as distinct from “inadequacy” which is how bad we actually are at dealing with future problems. The word “fear” is used interchangeably with “insecurity.”
Insistent
One of the seven aspects of insecurity; it refers to the strength of the influence that insecurity has over our behavior.
Intelligence
(one of the four reasons why we do not always behave in ways that benefit our genes: FAIL) In this book, intelligence (or lack of it) describes our inability to perfectly process information in our heads. More generally, intelligence can be defined as the ability to overcome obstacles to reach our goals by making good decisions and predictions.
Intermingling
One of the seven aspects of insecurity; it refers to the way that our various insecurities merge into one sensation, so that we often deal with an aspect of insecurity that should not be our main concern.
Invaluable
One of the seven aspects of insecurity; it refers to the important benefits that insecurity offers us.
Kin selection
(one of the three main mechanisms of natural selection) The promotion of traits that make us help those with similar genes to ours.
Loopholes
(one of the four reasons why we do not always behave in ways that benefit our genes: FAIL) The mechanism by which we use the vagueness and imprecision of natural selection’s directives to receive the emotional rewards that come with those directives without doing exactly what natural selection wanted to achieve through the directives.
The Mask
In this book, the mask is the façade that we present to the world to conceal our omnipresent insecurity. We need the mask to be able to effectively compete for mates and other scarce resources.
Meme
A concept that spreads through imitation; memes are the cultural analogues of genes.
Memory misattribution
Recalling a memory, but not where it came from.
Monogamy
Sexual relationships in which individuals only have one partner at a time.
Mutualism
The continual interdependence of two different organisms through which each member benefits.
Natural selection
The process by which inherited traits (defined by our genes) become increasingly prevalent in a population. The process involves random changes (mutation) in those traits being selected based on how those changes affect the organisms ability to survive and reproduce. The three main processes of natural selection are Procreation Selection, Individual Selection and Kin Selection (PIK).
Neuron
A cell in the brain (and other parts of the nervous system) that processes and transmits information both electrically and chemically.
Noble savage
The view of primitive man, when uncorrupted by civilization, as innately good and innocent.
Nullify
(defined in this book as one of the five strategies that we use to cope with our insecurity) Removing the potency of something that is causing us to feel insecure.
Occam’s razor
The principle that the simpler of two theories should be preferred.
Overcompensation
Compensation (the drive to excel in one area to make up for perceived areas in another), which is taken too far, taken to the point where it is unhelpful.
Overseer
As defined in this book, our overseer (our sentience, or consciousness) is the executive that presides over the noise of stimulus-response circuits in our heads, that focus our senses on objects of interest, processes information, that generates our internal dialogue, and that provides our free will.
PACT framework
In this book, the four areas that we consider when assessing another person: Procreation, Altruism, Capabilities and Trustworthiness.
Presenting
In this book, presenting is the reinforcing strategy that we use to strengthen our mask whereby we offer the world an image of the person we want to be. Since the opinion of others is part of how we define ourselves, the image that we present can become who we are.
Prisoner’s dilemma
A game theory problem that shows why people do not necessarily cooperate with each other, even if they would both benefit from doing so. For example, two prisoners being questioned are independently offered the same deal: if they cooperate with the police (betrayal) and admit that they both committed the crime then they could be released, but if they do not betray the other prisoner (silence), they could get their sentence extended. Specifically, if one prisoner betrays, and one remains silent, the betrayer goes free, but the silent one gets 10 years. If both stay silent, both get 1 year. If both betray, both get 5 years. The catch is that they cannot talk to each other so, while both staying silent is better for them than both defecting, the latter is the rational choice, because whatever the other does, each one individually benefits by betraying (going free in one case, and being jailed for 5 years not 10 in the other). Both should opt to betray.
Procreation selection
(one of the three main mechanisms of natural selection) The promotion of traits that help us to mate with the other sex (and thus produce offspring) either by attracting the opposite sex (bright bird plumage, for instance) or by driving off competitors of the same sex (stag antlers, for instance).
Proxy
As defined for this book, a proxy is a piece of substitute information that we use in place of data that we are really after, but do not have access to. For example, we use looks as a proxy for the information on genetic quality that we would ideally like to know, but cannot find out.
Ranking
(as defined in this book to distinguish it from status) How we score in the many different aspects (looks, intelligence, wealth, charm, and so on) of our overall status.
Reciprocal altruism
An act of supposed generosity that is actually motivated by the expectation that the favor will be returned (closely related to mutualism, which is a continual interdependence).
Reciprocity
The feeling of obligation that we should repay in kind anything that has been given to us.
Reinforce
(defined in this book as one of the five strategies that we use to cope with our insecurity) Strengthening our Masks so that we can withstand anything that causes us to feel insecure.
Reputational altruism
This refers to acts of generosity that are not purely selfless because the giver is motivated by achieving the improvements in reputation that result.
Retreat
(defined in this book as one of the five strategies that we use to cope with our insecurity) Backing away from the causes of our insecurity.
Reversion to the mean
The phenomenon that, when the measurement of a parameter is very different from the average value, the next measurement is likely to be closer to the average.
SAFE framework
In this book, the four main types of insecurity: Self, Authority, Faction and Environment.
Savanna
Flat grassland in tropical or subtropical regions with scattered trees and drought resistant undergrowth.
Savanna principle
The theory that our minds were shaped by the African Savanna that our ancestors escaped to when their forest habitat disappeared. They are not, therefore, optimized for the modern world.
Scarcity
In this book, scarcity is our bias for finding something more important if there is very little of it available to us.
Self insecurity
(as part of the SAFE framework) Fear about our skills and abilities.
Self-handicapping
The mechanism by which we actually reduce our chances of success in an endeavor in order to minimize the potential feelings of insecurity if we fail. We create and excuse for ourselves.
Sexual ornament
A trait that evolved through procreation selection by attracting the opposite sex .
Sexual runaway
A positive feedback mechanism that promotes the development of sexual ornaments. Just by chance, one sex finds a trait attractive in the other, which makes the trait adaptive (it helps to attract good mates), which in turn makes the preference for the trait adaptive (the preference aids in finding mates with an adaptive trait). The trait thus becomes more and more pronounced, even though it initially offered no evolutionary benefit.
Signal
A behavior that communicates information (also see handicap signal).
Social proof
The psychological phenomenon that we often assume that those around us know more than we do about a situation, and so we should follow their lead.
Status
(as defined in this book to distinguish it from ranking) Our overall place in the pecking order in society (which governs our ability to attract mates and other scarce resources). It is an aggregate of all of our individual rankings in the many different components of status.
Sunk costs
Costs that have already been spent and that cannot be recovered.
Super-ego
(one of the three parts of the psyche defined by Sigmund Freud) The super-ego is the partly conscious component that rewards and punishes us in accordance with our morals, conscience and guilt.
Superstimulus
An exaggerated form of a stimulus that causes an unusually strong response.
Testing
As used in this book, testing is presenting trials and tribulations to prospective partners as a way of gathering information on whether they are likely to be long term rather than short term partners.
Tit-for-tat
The strategy of equivalent retaliation that is very successful in the iterated version of the prisoner’s dilemma game.
TOP framework
In this book, the three components of a good lesson: Trustworthy, Original and Practical.
Vivid
Making a strong impression on the senses and mind. Our vividness bias means that we judge something as more important than it merits if it is vivid.
Zombots
Zombies or robots that are guided by a brain that has no consciousness, no soul.