Self-deception

ways of interpreting deception based on how it was used upon them or how they’ve used it on others to get what they desire. But for me, it wasn’t that big of a deal in my life. It was always that lie you told to your mom when you were younger saying you didn’t hit your sibling, or the white lie you told your best friend to avoid hurting their feelings. But after doing this research paper I learned that there are a lot of deeper forms of deception than what I had originally thought to be. Before starting my research, all I thought of the word was that it meant lying. Turns out I was wrong. I started out by looking up the word in an unabridged dictionary. “The act or practice of deceiving or misleading.” (Webster). This…

Self-deception is a fundamental aspect of human nature, which is common to most characters or people to some degree and is used to attempt to cope with an unfacable or undesireable reality. In fact, it is almost impossible to find characters in literature who are almost entirely self-aware. Although it is far easier than facing difficulties fully conscious of them, self-deception often leads to a warped sense of self, and missed opportunities that could deeply impact both yourself and others.…

I found myself in an ironic position when I realized that I was self-deceiving myself when choosing which article, Real self-deception by Alfred R. Mele or Self-Deception as a Pretense by Tamar Szabo Gendler, I supported the most. The first article I read was Mele 's and his way of describing several points of his view confused me as well as some of them enlightened me. As I moved on to Gendler 's article, I found her way of explaining herself somehow more reader-friendly and hence more…

I’m not really into self-help books. It’s not because I don’t value external perspective, and it’s not because I’m not all touchy-feely, but simply because; most people don’t write books that relate to me as a person. I am a unique person in many ways and while there are some that touch on this experience or that personality trait, most just miss the mark for me. Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting out of the Box (Arbinger, 2010) is not one of those books. First, let’s talk about the book…

Birt builds on the Sartrean idea that bad faith the act of deceiving oneself consciously or unconsciously. Sartre explains the division between normal deception or lying and bad faith comes from the quality of the deceived. When one lies, they have the truth and they have the intent to deceive or hide that truth from another person. Conversely, the deceived person in the relationship is unaware of the lie and the hidden truth. Bad faith is a form of lying, but both roles, the deceiver and the…

irrefutable that self-deception is a key component of human behavior and that many of us will self-deceive at one point or another. According to Starek & Keating, self-deception “is a motivated unawareness of conflicting knowledge in which threatening knowledge is selectively filtered from consciousness as a psychological defense, thereby reducing anxiety and inducing a positive self-bias” (Starek & Keating, 1991, p. 146). Philosopher Amélie Rorty believes that self-deception is applicable to…

According to Google’s dictionary, self-deception is the action or practice of allowing oneself to believe that a false or unvalidated feeling, idea, or situation is true. Us, being selfish humans, doing everything to satisfy our own ego, is the only person who we shouldn’t lie on. And certainly lying on ourselves is counter-productive. But while looking around, I can’t see but humans self-deceiving their selves including me. Admitting that we are liars hurts us. This form of dishonesty is the…

In Leadership and Self-Deception, the book reminds leaders to see people as people and not objects. Through a narrative story, Bud, Lou and Kate teach Tom several important principles including: the concept of the box, collusion, and how to get out of the box. These principles laid the foundation for the overarching lesson from the book which is that as a leader who does or does not possess these qualities will have an effect on the culture of the organization we are leading. The concept of…

issue of self-acceptance began from a young age, as I often used to sit alone in the vast woods behind my house, pondering on the inevitable, ominous thought, am I good enough for the world? With the ideal image of nature surrounding me, I wished I could hold as much beauty and perfection as the world around me. Every green blade of grass swaying, golden leaf falling, every bluejay’s chirp, the colorful rustle of the breeze, they taunt my imperfections and my flaws. From the atrocious thoughts…

Willy Loman, the sixty-year-old salesman, is a perfect case of self-deception paired with misguided life goals. In his view, one’s most important life goal is to be well-liked, successful in his job and reach material success. In reality he is far from those: has only a few friends (if not only Charley), was never really good as salesman, all his material wealth is covered by credit and he lived his life in debt. But these he is unable to admit, as if he would, he would admit that his life was a…