Table of Contents
Preface xiii
1 The Evolutionary Logic of Self-Deception 1
The Evolution of Self-Deception 3
Deception-Is Everywhere 6
What Is Self-Deception? 8
Detecting Deception in Humans via Cognitive Load 9
Self-Deception Is Older Than Language 13
Nine Categories of Self-Deception 15
The Hallmarks of Self-Deception 27
2 Deception in Nature 29
The Coevolutionary Struggle Between Deceiver and Deceived 30
Frequency-Dependent Selection in Butterflies 30
An Epic Coevolutionary Struggle 31
Intelligence and Deception 36
Female Mimics 38
False Alarm Calls 39
Camouflage 40
Death and Near-Death Acts 41
Randomness as a Strategy 42
Deception May Induce Anger 43
Animals May Be Conscious of Deception 45
Deception as an Evolutionary Game 48
A Deeper Theory of Deception 50
3 Neurophysiology and Levels of Imposed Self-Deception 53
The Neurophysiology of Conscious Knowledge 54
The Neurophysiology of Thought Suppression 56
The Irony of Trying to Suppress One's Thoughts 57
Improving Deception Through Neural Inhibition 58
Unconscious Self-Recognition Shows Self-Deception 59
Can One Half of the Brain Hide from the Other? 61
Imposed Self-Deception 63
Implicit Versus Explicit Self-Esteem 64
False Confessions, Torture, and Flattery 66
False Memories of Child Abuse 67
Is Self-Deception the Psyche's Immune System? 68
The Placebo Effect 70
4 Self-Deception in the Family-and the Split Self 77
Parent/Offspring Conflict 80
Cases of Extreme Abuse 81
Genomic Imprinting 82
Internal Conflict from Oppositely Imprinted Genes 84
Parental Manipulation and Imprinting 85
The Effect of Marital Conflict on Genetic Conflict 86
Imprinting and Self-Deception 87
Deception in Children 88
Parental Effects on Children's Deception 92
5 Deceit, Self-Deception, and Sex 95
Why Sex? 96
Two Sexes-Two Coevolving Species 97
Deception and Self-Deception at Courtship 99
Whose Baby Is It? 100
Male Response to Female Infidelity 101
Deceit and a Woman's Monthly Cycle 103
Men's Self-Deceit About Female Interest 105
Male Denial of Homosexual Tendencies 106
Is Self-Deception Good or Bad for Marriage? 107
The Appeal and Danger of Fantasy 109
The Pain of Betrayal 110
6 The Immunology of Self-Deception 115
The Immune System Is Expensive 117
The Importance of Sleep 120
Trade-Offs with Immunity 121
Writing About Trauma Improves Immune Function 125
Homosexuality and the Effects of Denial 128
Positive Affect and Immune Function 130
The Effects of Music 132
Positivity in Old Age 133
An Immunological Theory of Happiness 135
7 The Psychology of Self-Deception 139
Avoiding Some Information and Seeking Out Other 140
Biased Encoding and Interpretation of Information 142
Biased Memory 143
Rationalization and Biased Reporting 145
Predicting Future Feelings 146
Are All Biases Due to Self-Deception? 147
Denial and Projection 148
Denial Is Self-Reinforcing 150
Your Aggression, My Self-Defense 151
Cognitive Dissonance and Self-Justification 151
Social Effects of Cognitive Dissonance Reduction 154
Cognitive Dissonance in Monkeys and Young Children 155
8 Self-Deception in Everyday Life 157
Sex Differences in Overconfidence 157
Metaphors in the Stock Market 160
Manipulative Metaphors in Life 161
The Name-Letter Effect 164
Deceiving Down and Dummying Up 167
Face-ism 168
Spam Against Anti-Spam 170
Humor, Laughter, and Self-Deception 172
Drugs and Self-Deception 173
Vulnerability to Manipulation by Others 175
Professional Con Artists 176
Lie-Detector Tests 180
9 Self-Deception in Aviation and Space Disasters 183
Air Florida Flight 90-Doomed by Self-Deception? 184
Disaster 37,000 Feet Above the Amazon 189
Eldar Takes Command-Aeroflot Flight 593 191
Simple Pilot Error-or Pilot Fatigue? 192
Ice Overpowers the Pilots; Airlines Overpower the FAA 194
The US Approach to Safety Helps Cause 9/11 198
The Challenger Disaster 201
The Columbia Disaster 205
Egypt and Egypt Air Deny All 209
When the Head of the Airforce Becomes the Pilot-the Crash That Took Out Poland's Entire Leadership in 2010 212
Saved by Lack of Self-Deception? 213
10 False Historical Narratives 215
The US False Historical Narrative 218
Control Through Small Wars and Installed Proxies 222
US History Textbooks 224
Larger View of US History 225
The Rewriting of Japanese History 227
Turkey's Holocaust Denial 230
A Land Without People for a People Without Land 233
The Founding of the State of Israel 235
Voluntary Flight or Ethnic Cleansing? 237
Arab Deceit and Self-Deception 239
Christian Zionism 241
First Line of Defense: Cry "Anti-Semite" 243
Why False Historical Narratives? 245
11 Self-Deception and War 247
Chimpanzee Raiding → Human Warfare 249
Self-Deception Encourages Warfare 252
Derogation of Others → Fatal Overconfidence 255
The 2003 US War on Iraq 257
Creating Knowledge and Then Walling It Off 263
Can Wars Be Won Through Bombing? 265
Bombing to Eradicate History and to Reinforce It 268
Carnage in Gaza 270
Self-Deception and the History of War 274
12 Religion and Self-Deception 277
Cooperation Within the Group 280
Religion: A Recipe for Self-Deception 282
Religion and Health 285
Parasites and Religious Diversity 288
Why the Bias Against Women? 291
Power Corrupts 292
Religions Impose Mating Systems 294
Religion Preaches Against Self-Deception 295
Intercessory Prayer-Does It Work? 299
Religion and Support for Suicide Attacks 300
Religion → Self-Righteousness → Warfare 301
13 Self-Deception and the Structure of the Social Sciences 303
Precedence of Justice Over Truth? 304
Success of Science Is Based on Anti-Self-Deception Devices 305
The More Social the Discipline, the More Retarded Its Development 307
Self-Deception in Biology 308
Is Economics a Science? 310
Cultural Anthropology 313
Psychology 315
Psychoanalysis: Self-Deception in the Study of Self-Deception 317
Self-Deception Deforms Disciplines 319
14 Fighting Self-Deception in our own lives 321
To Fight One's Own Self-Deception or Not? 323
A Series of Minor Victories Followed by a Major Disaster 324
Signals of Underlying Mental Screw-Ups 324
Correcting for Our Own Biases 326
Why Are We So Compulsive? 327
The Value of Being Conscious 329
The Danger of Fantasy in Propagating Deception 330
The Benefits of Prayer and Meditation 331
Value of Friends and Counselors 332
An Invitation to Self-Deception and Personal Disaster 333
A Never-Ending Extravaganza 334
Acknowledgments 339
Notes 341
Bibliography 355
Index 387