Institute for Empirical Research in Economics, University of Zurich, Zurich 8006, Switzerland.
Behav Brain Sci. 2009 Dec;32(6):493-510; discussion 510-61. doi: 10.1017/S0140525X09990975.
From an evolutionary standpoint, a default presumption is that true beliefs are adaptive and misbeliefs maladaptive. But if humans are biologically engineered to appraise the world accurately and to form true beliefs, how are we to explain the routine exceptions to this rule? How can we account for mistaken beliefs, bizarre delusions, and instances of self-deception? We explore this question in some detail. We begin by articulating a distinction between two general types of misbelief: those resulting from a breakdown in the normal functioning of the belief formation system (e.g., delusions) and those arising in the normal course of that system's operations (e.g., beliefs based on incomplete or inaccurate information). The former are instances of biological dysfunction or pathology, reflecting "culpable" limitations of evolutionary design. Although the latter category includes undesirable (but tolerable) by-products of "forgivably" limited design, our quarry is a contentious subclass of this category: misbeliefs best conceived as design features. Such misbeliefs, unlike occasional lucky falsehoods, would have been systematically adaptive in the evolutionary past. Such misbeliefs, furthermore, would not be reducible to judicious - but doxastically noncommittal - action policies. Finally, such misbeliefs would have been adaptive in themselves, constituting more than mere by-products of adaptively biased misbelief-producing systems. We explore a range of potential candidates for evolved misbelief, and conclude that, of those surveyed, only positive illusions meet our criteria.
从进化的角度来看，默认的假设是，真实的信念是适应性的，错误的信念是不适应的。但是，如果人类是被生物设计用来准确评估世界并形成真实信念的，那么我们如何解释这个规则的常见例外情况呢？我们如何解释错误的信念、奇怪的妄想和自我欺骗的例子呢？我们将详细探讨这个问题。我们首先阐明了两种一般类型的错误信念之间的区别：一种是由于信念形成系统的正常功能失灵而导致的错误信念（例如妄想），另一种是在该系统的正常运作过程中产生的错误信念（例如基于不完整或不准确信息的信念）。前者是生物功能障碍或病理的例子，反映了进化设计的“应受指责”的局限性。尽管后者包括“可原谅”的有限设计的不良（但可容忍）副产品，但我们的目标是这一类中的一个有争议的子类：最好被视为设计特征的错误信念。与偶尔幸运的谎言不同，这种错误信念在进化的过去是系统适应性的。此外，这种错误信念不能简化为明智的——但在认知上不承诺的——行动策略。最后，这种错误信念本身就是适应性的，不仅仅是适应性偏见的错误信念产生系统的副产品。我们探讨了一系列潜在的进化错误信念的候选者，并得出结论，在所调查的内容中，只有积极的错觉符合我们的标准。
