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Mon 27 Jul, 2015 12:05 am
If I try to remove "its" from " its deception", I do not feel comfortable. But whose deception? The mind's?
Context:
In his book Social Evolution, Robert Trivers enlarged on his 1976 evolutionary theory of self-deception. Self-deception is hiding the truth from the conscious mind the better to hide it from others. In our own species we recognize that shifty eyes, sweaty palms and croaky voices may indicate the stress that accompanies conscious knowledge of attempted deception. By becoming unconscious of its deception, the deceiver hides these signs from the observer. He or she can lie without the nervousness that accompanies deception.
@InfraBlue,
InfraBlue wrote:
We covered it
here just over a year ago.
Excellent!
See McTag's analysis. That is rather complicated and that is why I could have forgotten it:
Quote:McTag: It is a very awkward and illogocal (and unclear) sentence. I've read it several times, without improving its clarity.
Quote:
By becoming unconscious of its deception, the deceiver hides these signs from the observer
"It" can never refer to a person. It is an impersonal pronoun.
So it's wrong to say it = the deceiver.
It would make better sense if the sentence was written:
By becoming unconscious of THE deception, the deceiver hides these signs from the observer.
I therefore believe the original was in error.
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