Chimps do see that mental states, such as purpose and knowledge, combine to produce deliberate action. They even understand deceit.
What chimps don't seem capable of understanding is the state of false belief. They don't have a theory of mind that accounts for actions driven by beliefs in conflict with reality.
Karen Joy Fowler, We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves
In 2004, Jacques Derrida noted that torture damages the torturer as much as the victim. Abu Ghraib rendered the spectacle of ourselves-- our projected powers and mammalian prowess-- reprehensible. How does one maintain a sense of self-cohesion or integrity given self-disgust?
“Perception is more important than reality,” she reads. “If someone perceives something to be true, it is more important than if it is true. This doesn’t mean you should be duplicitous or deceitful, but don’t go out of your way to correct a false assumption if it plays to your advantage.”
Ivanka Trump's new audiobook
To the extent that we grant any measure of reality to Trumpism, are we complicit in its propagation?
But Trump isn’t just a purveyor of perception. He is also its captive because he has no reference beyond it. When he mocked a handicapped reporter, we thought it was yet another manifestation of Trump’s cruelty, which it was, but it may also have been a manifestation of his aesthetics and of a belief in eugenics nurtured by his father. Similarly, when he insulted women and harped on their looks, we thought it was ugly misogyny and sexism, which it was, but it may also have been another demonstration of his obsession with appearances. It may explain as well why he is so disdainful of facts. If you live a life without meaning or substance, appearance is the only thing that matters. Indeed, the only question he ever seems to ask himself is: How does he/she/it look?
