Why do cheats so often seem to come out on top? A new book by Cambridge social scientist Dr. Jonathan Goodman argues that the answer lies deep in our evolutionary history.
Invisible Rivals, published by Yale University Press, claims that human beings evolved not just to cooperate—but to exploit cooperation through deception. This long-hidden trait now threatens democracy, climate action, and social trust, he says.
The Hidden Legacy of Human Evolution
Goodman, a researcher at Cambridge Public Health and the Wellcome Sanger Institute, believes that free-riding—benefiting from a group without contributing to it—is not a modern aberration, but an ancient survival strategy that’s simply evolved with us.
“Free riders are among us at every level of society,” Goodman warns. “Pretending otherwise can make our own goals unrealistic, and worse, appear hopeless.” He argues that humans didn’t stop being selfish when we became social. Instead, we got better at hiding it.
Language: The Double-Edged Sword
At the heart of Goodman’s argument is a paradox: the same language skills that allow humans to build trust also help us conceal our true motives. “We use language to keep our plans invisible,” Goodman writes. “Humans, more than other known organisms, can cooperate until we imagine a way to compete, exploit, or coerce.”
In other words, deception didn’t emerge after cooperation. It evolved right alongside it, as a feature of the same adaptive toolkit. That’s what makes modern free-riders—from corporate tax dodgers to political strongmen—so hard to spot, let alone stop.
From Hunter-Gatherers to Hedge Funds
In ancestral communities, cheating was harder to hide. If someone hoarded tools or food, others noticed. Shared survival depended on transparency. But today’s economy is built on intangibles—digital accounts, legal loopholes, and trust-based systems—where deception is easier and often rewarded.
According to Goodman, this shift lets exploiters thrive unnoticed. “Today most of us rely largely on intangible assets for monetary exchange,” he notes. “People can easily hide resources, misrepresent their means and invalidate the effectiveness of social norms around risk pooling.”
Key Takeaways from Invisible Rivals:
- Free-riding is an evolved trait, not a rare moral failure.
- Language is both our greatest tool for cooperation—and our sharpest weapon for deceit.
- Modern society makes deception easier by obscuring tangible proof of reciprocity.
- Education and exposure—not punishment—are our best defenses against exploiters.
- Trust must be placed with discernment, not blind optimism or blanket cynicism.
What Can Be Done?
“We need to be realistic about human nature,” Goodman says. “We’re a bit of both [selfish and cooperative] so we need to learn how to place our trust discerningly.” The solution, he argues, lies in education, institutional design, and social exposure—not just punishment.
“Loss of social capital through reputation is an important motivator for anyone,” he says, pointing to journalism and public discourse as powerful tools for accountability. Still, he acknowledges the danger of even those tools being hijacked for personal or political gain: “People across the political sphere accuse others of virtue signalling or abusing a well-intentioned political movement for their own gain.”
Is There Still Hope?
Goodman doesn’t sugarcoat the stakes: “The dilemma each of us faces now is whether to confront invisible rivalry or to let exploiters undermine society until democracy in the free world unravels—and the freedom of dissent is gone.”
His message isn’t just a warning—it’s a call to self-awareness. If cheating is part of what makes us human, so is the ability to reflect, adapt, and choose better paths. The challenge is not to become perfect, but to become more honest about what we are—and what we might still become.
Invisible Rivals: How We Evolved to Compete in a Cooperative World is available from Yale University Press as of June 17, 2025.
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