Cenk was being ridiculous. Part of what he said is correct, but as a whole, he's wrong. The part that made least sense was singling out women, but, thankfully, Cenk finally added that men were like that too.

Of course people like to receive compliments that soothe their ego, but no one asks or wants to be deceived. When we receive a compliment, even if we know it's not true, we like the idea that the person paying it thinks its true. Or, we like the idea that the person paying the compliment, knowing it's a lie, and knowing you know it's a lie, still says it because it'll make you feel good. Like a smile, a compliment doesn't cost a thing, but is worth a lot.

There's nothing wrong with saying "You’re the most beautiful women in the world", for example. Of course it's a lie. For one thing, no guy has seen all the women in the world, but between two loving people, it's a statement of how of one person wants the other person to feel.

Sometimes we'll accept a lie believing it to be an embellishment around a core of truth. If you find out that there is no core of truth in the other person's mind, you entitled to be outraged. No one wants a flat out deception, but a lie that shows an honest caring intent is acceptable.

The genetic argument, though containing its part of fact, is bunk if you take it to its extreme binary conclusion: men want to hit it and leave, women want 100% commitment. Actual human beings are more nuanced than that. We inherit our genes from both our parents, and nothing prevents a guy from inheriting stereotypically feminine attitudes. What about the men who like to stay at home? Who stay around to see their children grow? Who bond with their companion for life, or at least, much longer than the 3, 4 years that Cenk keeps mentioning? To make things murkier, a man can look for sex outside of his marriage and still be in love and deeply committed to his wife.

Our genes are not a unified survival strategy. We're a mishmash of competing and opposing drives. One of them is to deceive to get what we want, and people are generally very good at lying. Lies are useful; sometimes they're just convenient. The drawback is that this skill is too good. People can deceive themselves easily since in an effort to hide a truth from others, we often hide it from ourselves.

Cenk's argument can also be harmful, though I don't believe for a moment Cenk meant it that way. The problem is, it's used to justify lying to women. "It's okay to lie to women since women want to be lied to." No, it's not okay. Sure, you can get what you want by lying, that's true in almost everything in life. That doesn't make it okay. It causes great harm.

Guys, think about this: you've been in a relationship, or you can imagine a relationship where the woman deceived you, lied to you for selfish purposes. Was that okay? Did you ask for it? Remember how that felt? Don't make up reasons to do the same to women, who don't deserve it anymore that you did.

As an aside, there's nothing wrong with being a feminist. Feminism is the belief in the right of women to have political, social, and economic equality with men. If you agree with that, you're a feminist.