David Smith interviewed by the National Post for story on Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Arnold Schwarzenegger

On May 21, 2011, The National Post (Ontario, Canada) quoted David Livingstone Smith, Ph.D., UNE associate professor of philosophy, in a story titled "Why the jerks will inherit the earth," which explores the question of why scoundrels, cheats and deceivers abound in the higher echelons of human society. 

Manipulation skills are endemic to leaders, from popular high school students to CEOs and politicians, Smith said. “It’s actually quite an important social skill.” Smith believes humans must manipulate and even deceive for the sake of social organization. “We need our politicians and we need our entrepreneurs. We need these people with people skills. And people skills are, to a significant degree, manipulation skills, deception skills,” he says.

Smith is the author of Why We Lie: The Evolutionary Roots of Deception and the Unconscious Mind. He was also recently interviewed on NPR's Talk of the Nation where he discussed his most recent book, Less Than Human: Why We Demean, Enslave and Exterminate Others.

About the University of New England

The University of New England is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible, accredited online degrees. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.