Friday, July 11, 2014

Book review: Kidding Ourselves: The Hidden Power of Self-Deception


Book review: Kidding Ourselves: The Hidden Power of Self-Deception
Crown Publishers, New York, 2014
260 pages

This is a quotable book. It’s a memorable book.


It’s not an easy read, but the detail is accessible and the observations are shockingly clear, and you’ll want to keep reading it right through to the end.

As Hallinan might say, be optimistic—keep at it. You can do it.

From the author’s introduction: “. . . the real reasons behind our human responses often elude us. In their absence, we drum up plausible explanations, which are frequently mere rationalizations, to explain why we’ve done the things we’ve done . . .”



The eye-opener is that much of this process of  “kidding ourselves” occurs in the subconscious—we don’t know we’re doing it.



For example, like the little engine that could, if we think we can do something we are much more likely to be able to do that thing.

For example, people with power are much more likely to think that they can get away with doing whatever they want, and often they succeed.

For example, if we believe something to be true, we are much more likely to accept confirming evidence, and ignore or not even recognize non-confirming evidence.

For example, try this one: if you’re a person who has some power in the public or private sphere, grab a crayon and write the letter “E” on your forehead, and if you’re a person who is or feels powerless, at work or at home, grab a crayon and write the letter “E” on your forehead—see how that works out (p. 148).

Hallinan doesn’t seem to mention it, but his book puts paid to more or less the entire Western notion of human rationality and The Rational Man.

We aren’t logical, rational, objective beings.

Read the book.





No comments:

Post a Comment