Lies

Just as hypocrisy can be used strategically, lies can as well:

Among individuals who are opposed to the established political system, liars are appealing because their behavior signals disrespect for establishment norms such as truth-telling […] creates the paradox that politicians who lie can appear more authentic

[…]

Anyone of any identity can believe an evident truth; but only devoted in-group members will endorse common claims that are not supported by evidence […] truth-defying beliefs can function as a hard-to-fake signal of immersion into a group.
— “The Evolutionary Psychology of Conflict and the Functions of Falsehood“

This reminds me of how (evolutionary) expensive signals are used to signal attractiveness, something even Darwin wrote about before the field of Evolutionary Psychology could possibly be conceived.

I read a lot of papers in that field some years ago but found them all unreliable; apparently I had chosen the wrong branch because in the last couple of years I think I’ve only read papers with arguments that are at least plausible.