self actualization

Researchers note that “self-deception may have evolved as an adaptive strategy for deceiving others... self-deception can prevent the liar from emitting nonverbal cues of guilt, minimize the cognitive load associated with lying, and reduce retribution via pleas of ignorance.”

Psychologist Geoffrey Miller puts it this way: “A costly behavior cannot evolve just because it happens to feel good. Feeling good must have evolved to motivate the behavior, which must have some hidden benefit.”