Nevertheless, here are eight common ways we unconsciously self-deceive using stats, ignorance, bad logic, or other wily human tricks. Now, I can’t help you with that last buddy part.

Let’s all group-self-deceive right now and chalk that up as “part of the charm of being human.” Eight Common Self-Deceptions

Friends don’t let friends self-delude: have a buddy who is willing to level with youĪgain, I’d stress that the more compelling the bad news is, the more likely one is to steadfastly hold onto one’s convenient alternate reality.

Admit that it occurs realize, as a human, you will do it again.

Is there a way to minimize self-delusion? Actually, yes, there is somewhat of a process you can use, though with varying levels of success. So the natural human reaction is to ignore and hope that things change. Many of the situations where you’d use a phrase like the above are ones in which you feel you may have little or no control over things. I like to call this “quantum shifting” into an alternate universe where the unpleasant is no longer so. We make believe the situation is different, all the while knowing it isn’t so.

“Let sleeping dogs lie” (personally I love the double entendre here)Īll of these phrases are used in situations where the facts are uncomfortable and we consciously choose to ignore them.

(If you’re doing it intentionally, then bad karma on you, but I leave your fate to another writer.) This leaves with us two groups: the honest self-deceivers who do so consciously and those who do it unconsciously.Ĭonscious self-deception? Surely not! Yet, how else do we explain common phrases for just this very thing: First, that (most) people are honest, and don’t really intend to deceive themselves or others. Now, let’s start off with some assumptions. It takes a healthy sense of self-worth to say “holy crap! I’m a dufus!” With apologies to Sir Walter Scott for my mangling of his most popular turn of phrase, I’d like to take some time now to discuss how people −and particularly people involved in metrics and evaluation of “how did we do this week/month/quarter?” − are prone to self-delusion.Īlong the way, I run the risk of insulting you, but I see that as a necessary risk when confronting a topic like this. “Oh, What A Tangled Web We Weave, When First We Practice To (Self) Deceive”

Oh what a tangled web we weave