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Living a Lie: We Deceive Ourselves to Better Deceive Others

scientificamerican.com

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Re: Living a Lie: We Deceive Ourselves to Better Deceive Others

#11

Post by HillaryBriss »

There was an NPR story about how our current president listened to a lot "Power of Positive Thinking" lectures/sermons early in his life. He really embraced those ideas.

Seems he's almost always trying to convince the world that a certain narrative about himself, the voters, and reality in general is true.

But this research adds an interesting wrinkle to that story. By making so many questionable statements publicly, maybe he's really just trying to convince himself.

And that's why, when outsiders try to tell him that his "facts" are not facts at all, it doesn't matter to him. He just repeats his original statement even louder. His public statements aren't for the rest of us. We're just the audience that adds some emotional intensity for him and the process in his own brain.

Re: Living a Lie: We Deceive Ourselves to Better Deceive Others

#16

Post by rustynails »

aluminussoma wrote: post #10
apapli wrote: post #4

From the wisdom of George in Seinfeld, when Jerry is seeking advice before sitting a lie detector test: "Jerry, just remember, it’s not a lie if you believe it."

Also, the saying, "Fake it 'til you make it". The study looked at perceived athleticism. I wonder if the same could be said about entrepreneurship?

I drew a similar conclusion. In order to lie to someone else, you need to believe it yourself. Steve Jobs' reality distortion field is an example. I found for myself that if I had self doubt, I could become paralysed with fear. If I didn't ask myself if I could, then I made it happen. This isn't quite the same, but it's very similar. This attitude required some deceit as I rarely said I couldn't do something. This could be linked to be the Peter principle.

Re: Living a Lie: We Deceive Ourselves to Better Deceive Others

#17

Post by rustynails »

lngnmn wrote: post #2

Sure. How else one could get married?

As someone who is married, I truly do not understand your comment. The exact opposite seems true to me. Honesty and integrity are paramount (at least to me). Find somebody you respect. Find somebody who is compatible with you. Hope you find someone who thinks and feels the same as you do. If I struggled on my journey, it was to find a woman who did not want to dominate me or be dominated who was worthy of my respect. I consider myself very lucky. Been married for a long time to an amazing women who is an engineer in heart and soul. So, nothing about self doubt, deceit for me.

Re: Living a Lie: We Deceive Ourselves to Better Deceive Others

#18

Post by dhimes »

HillaryBriss wrote: post #11

There was an NPR story about how our current president listened to a lot "Power of Positive Thinking" lectures/sermons early in his life. He really embraced those ideas. Seems he's almost always trying to convince the world that a certain narrative about himself, the voters, and reality in general is true. But this research adds an interesting wrinkle to that story. By making so many questionable statements publicly,…

I also find anecdotally that people like that only surround themselves with people who repeat (or at least don't challenge) the lie. If you throw in some reality that is at odds with their belief then you don't get a seat at the table any more.

Re: Living a Lie: We Deceive Ourselves to Better Deceive Others

#19

Post by kartan »

thedevil wrote: post #3

I always knew that lying to oneself is a good planned strategy for lying. But never thought that our natural tendency to deceive ourselves might have the ultimate purpose of helping us deceive others. This is why I love hacker news. I get a different perspective every day that (whether it's right or wrong) forces me to re-consider my mental models of the world.

> This is why I love hacker news. I get a different perspective every day that (whether it's right or wrong) forces me to re-consider my mental models of the world.

I almost believed you there. Don't lie to yourself, we like Hacker News for its entertainment value. :P

Re: Living a Lie: We Deceive Ourselves to Better Deceive Others

#20

Post by mythrwy »

HillaryBriss wrote: post #11

There was an NPR story about how our current president listened to a lot "Power of Positive Thinking" lectures/sermons early in his life. He really embraced those ideas. Seems he's almost always trying to convince the world that a certain narrative about himself, the voters, and reality in general is true. But this research adds an interesting wrinkle to that story. By making so many questionable statements publicly,…

I posted this a few weeks ago, it didn't get much traction but was an excellent read if you have been exposed to "Power of Positive Thinking" or it's spiritual predecessor "Think and Grow Rich".

http://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/the-untold-story-of-napoleon-...

Always kind of figured the authors were hucksters (not to discount whatever valuable insight they might actually have). The article somewhat confirmed my suspicion.

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