An op-ed article in the NYT today, I’m O.K., You’re Biased, reminded me of a subject I have been meaning to cover: how people deceive themselves. I can understand why humans, and animals in general, might hinder one another to get ahead, but what does one achieve through self-deception? I think the idea is that the brain ignores negative signals if it not doing so will significantly affect morale, and hence the ability to operate normally. The article repeats an interesting find I read in a book called Why We Lie by David Livingstone Smith, that people invariably think they are “better than average”. I don’t recommend the book because it is lacking in scientific citations; next edition perhaps?
To me, all this raises the question of where to draw the line between self-deception and lying. If self-deception is involuntary, how should your being under its influence while committing a crime affect your punishment? A related subject is the use of polygraph tests in court. Unfortunately, I do not know anything about this, except that they seem to be out of favor.

And last but not least…today is my birthday. I promise I am not deceiving anyone!