Is "Act Naturally" an Oxymoron?

We think we like people who "act naturally". In fact, we have derogatory terms for people who do not act naturally. We call them phonies. We call them insincere. But, upon inspection, we will see that we really don't want people to "act naturally" and that the world would simply not work if people were not insincere.

What is "natural" behavior? Well, if we follow our evolving definition of what it means to be natural, we can see that natural behavior is behavior that has not been influence by mankind. If we did, indeed, act naturally, we would act like wild animals. We would kill, steal, fight over mates and territory, and would certainly not feel obligated in any way to observe social amenities. Instead of voting, we would have politicians fight it out with each other. If one was hungry, you would just steal food from a weaker member of society. If your neighbor's house was nicer, you would just take it over and kick them out as long as you were physically superior. No, we don't really want people to go around acting naturally.

In place of acting naturally, we have thousands of years of evolving norms that we adopt, centuries of cultural development, decades of things that are fashionable, and years of current fads that we follow. Not only do we have these constructs, but they are conveyed in stories, laws, and TV shows. "Correct behavior" could not be further from natural. It is entirely an artificial construct (such as manners), reinforced by other artificial constructs (such as media).

Imagine encountering someone and asking how they are. And, in response, they actually tell you. You would wonder what is wrong with that person. Imagine meeting somebody new and instead of saying "nice to meet you", they say, "I really don't like meeting new people, so don't bother to tell me your name." No, natural behavior is not what we are looking for. And we really do want people to be insincere. So, clearly, something other than the natural/artificial dichotomy is going on.But, what is it?