Andy’s Quick Hits (158): The four strategies of self-deception

In a world of alternative facts this paper by Marchi and Newen of Ruhr-University Bochum is insightful. They analyse and clarify different forms of self-deception. Of note is that self-deception is a natural process and can, in the short-term, have benefits to an individual by protecting self-identity and keeping motivation active, for example. However, the authors also note it is almost always detrimental in the mid- and long-term.

The first and most common one is something called reorganisation of beliefs. In the current Covid situation it may be people who have had multiple vaccinations suddenly see vaccinations as an evil ploy. Their beliefs have been reorganised. The researchers however, also identified three other forms that happen earlier in the process which may prevent unpleasant, or unwished for, facts getting to you in the first place.

The second is selecting facts, this means only getting the information you want, or avoiding the information you don’t want. Easily done in a selective way in our current society.

The third is to reject facts by casting doubt on the credibility of the sources — commonly used in many forms in society and political parties (of both sides).

The fourth is generating facts from ambiguous information or interpreting ambiguous…