Kidding Ourselves: The Hidden Power of Self-Deception

by Joseph T. Hallinan

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of Why We Make Mistakes, an illuminating exploration of human beings’ astonishing ability to deceive themselves.
 
To one degree or another, we all misjudge reality. Our perception—of ourselves and the world around us—is much more malleable than we realize. This self-deception influences every major aspect of our personal and social life, including relationships, sex, politics, careers, and health. 

In Kidding Ourselves, Joseph Hallinan offers a nuts-and-bolts look at how this penchant shapes our everyday lives, from the medicines we take to the decisions we make. It shows, for instance, just how much the power of many modern medicines, particularly anti-depressants and painkillers, is largely in our heads. Placebos in modern-day life extend beyond hospitals, to fake thermostats and “elevator close” buttons that don’t really work…but give the perception that they do.

Kidding Ourselves brings together a variety of subjects, linking seemingly unrelated ideas in fascinating and unexpected ways. And ultimately, it shows that deceiving ourselves is not always negative or foolish. As increasing numbers of researchers are discovering, it can be incredibly useful, providing us with the resilience we need to persevere, in the boardroom, bedroom, and beyond. 

Genres: Nonfiction, Psychology, Self Help, Science, Audiobook, Personal Development

272 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Joe Hallinan is a writer based in Chicago. He has written for many of the world's leading publications, including The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, and the Sunday Times of London. His most recent book is Kidding Ourselves: The Hidden Power of Self-Deception (Crown, 2014).

His previous book, Why We Make Mistakes (Broadway Books, 2009), was a Book-of-the-Month Club selection. It has sold more than 100,000 copies in the United States and has been translated into more than a dozen languages.

His first book, Going Up the River: Travels in a Prison Nation, was published in 2001 by Random House. The book, which is now in paperback, was named by The New York Times as one of the year's "Notable Books." The Los Angeles Times chose it as one of its "Best Books of the Year."

Joe was previously a reporter for The Wall Street Journal, and before that was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University. Among his journalism awards is a Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting.

He has taught at a number of colleges and universities, and was most recently a visiting professor at Vanderbilt University. He has appeared on a variety of radio and television programs in the U.S. and abroad, including NPR's Fresh Air with Teri Gross, The O'Reilly Factor on Fox News, CBS News Sunday Morning and the popular Canadian radio program Definitely Not the Opera.

He lives in Chicago with his wife, Pam Taylor, and their children.

Reviews

[Will Byrnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Realism has its limitations

Don’t I know. But after reading Joseph Hallinan’s Kidding Ourselves, you will find a way to get rid of those extra pounds; you will finally step up and demand that raise you have been denied for the last several years; you will ask out that person you have had your eye on for so long; you will give up that nasty habit, you know the one; and you will finally get around to writing that book. All you have to do is want it enough, and think positively. Yeah, right. We have been fed a steady diet of positive thinkology from Norman Vincent Peale to Professor Harold Hill to Tony Robbins, from cultish directions like EST, and from con artists from Ponzi to Madoff.


Ponzi – old and new

Barbara Ehrenreich, in Bright-Sided, pulled back the curtain on a lot of the sort of scamming that the think-positive sorts have been inflicting on us all. I share her views on this stuff. Most of the see-no-evil promulgators seek little more than to divert our attention from the real societal causes of many of our maladies, and in doing so pad their own pockets. Most of us, for example, are not struggling financially because we got too little education, the wrong sort of education, are lazy, unfocused, not good enough, not beautiful or strong enough, or are bad people who deserve what happens to us. It is because the rich SOBs who run the world decided to steal more than they already had, and have the power to make government hold us down while they go through our pockets, and then demand that we thank them for the privilege.

Blaming the victim is a national, no, a global past-time, and urging people to believe that the fault is in them and that if they just had a better attitude they would succeed, is the sort of tangy Kool Aid that people like Jim Jones have been peddling for a long time.

This is all to say that I approached the book with a full magazine of attitude and an itchy finger. So, is this guy another in a long line of con artists trying to blame the victim? Turns out, not so much. At ease, soldier.


Joseph T. Hallinan - image from Amazon

Joseph T. Hallinan is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, who reported for the Wall Street Journal, has written on the prison system, and wrote a 2009 popular psychology look at some of our many imperfections as human beings, the how and why we are the way we are, Why We Make Mistakes. Hallinan’s latest, Kidding Ourselves, a relatively short book (210 pps in my proof), looks at a narrow range of human behavior, although it does manage to cover a fairly wide swath of human (and sometimes non-human) experience. He is not so much promoting the notion of looking on the sunny side of life as taking a pop-psych microscope to the behavior itself. He breaks down the many ways in which homo sap practices self-delusion, and it is not exactly all positive.

Health-wise, he offers evidence that one’s attitude definitely matters. Expecting a positive outcome has measurable palliative results, independent of the pharmacological benefit of drugs or procedures applied to a medical problem. The obverse is true as well, expecting the worst can often bring it about. One really can die from, say, hypochondria, or a broken heart. Depression does cause physical harm to those who experience it.

Hallinan looks into the relationship between our perceptions and reality. You know that right-wing uncle who insists that Obama was born in Kenya and is a Muslim? You showed him all the evidence, right? And the result? He absolutely refused to accept the facts, clinging instead to his attitudes. I’d want to smack him too. Hallinan looks into this and offers an explanation for this seemingly inexplicable dedication to ignorance.

The book is about how we need to feel some control in our lives, almost more than anything else, whether it is that the cross-walk sign might flash “Walk” sooner in response to our pressing a button, whether it is that we can, through wise investing, control our financial future, or whether we believe that by repeating some ritual behavior we might therefore succeed in some endeavor. And we kid ourselves in order to be able to feel that there is something, anything, that is under our control. Otherwise we feel completely hopeless and the implications of that are not good. One result of this is that the confidence we gain from our beliefs, regardless of their basis in reality, can sometimes make the difference between success and failure, improvement or relapse, life or death.

This is, as noted, a short book, so one does not expect a deep, heavily detailed scientific treatise. It is pop-psychology, written by a journalist, not a scientist, meant for readers like you and me. That said, my antennae started to vibrate a time or three when I felt that the analysis was particularly, and problematically blindered. For example, Hallinan cites surveys of public attitudes regarding taxation that shows a persistent degree of dissatisfaction despite changes in rates over time. Problem is that the rate change under study is the top marginal tax rate, the rate paid by the highest wage-earners. Most people are not affected by this, so why would their attitude change at all? And given that taxes on working and middle class wage-earners had not dropped, and may even have gone up over the time span covered in the study, it is no surprise that general attitudes toward taxation would have seen little change. Another section looks at the persistence of false beliefs, as if they exist in a vacuum.

How could so many people persistently believe something unsupported by facts?
“I don’t have an explanation for that,” said pollster Jim Williams. “All I can say is that we have looked at that in other places in the past and it’s never gone away.”

Fuh real? How dim are you guys? Have you never heard of the 24/7 Lie Network at Fox, the masses of newspapers owned by Rupert Murdoch, or Clear Channel broadcasting, right-wing radio, and the gazillions of know-nothing web-sites that sprout like algal blooms in the path of agricultural runoff, or the deliberately provocative product firehosed across the internet by Russia? Sure, people will cling to nonsense in the absence of such assistance, but when it is blasted into your brain constantly, it will have an impact. So yeah, it does seem sometimes that the author has been a bit blind to some obvious real-world factors, which is ironic, as he points out the bias inherent in some well-known scientists here as well.

But he does offer quite a few examples of real scientific studies that indicate that sometimes mind-over-matter really….um…matters. Not, of course, in other-worldly sorts of manifestations, like making that missing limb grow back, or altering the immediate balance in your bank account. But to the extent that confidence comes into play, and it does come into play quite a bit, it might not hurt to accentuate the positive, Whistle a Happy Tune, hum a little Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah or channel a small, very, very small dose of Stuart Smalley. You may be a loser, a 97 pound weakling, too fat, too skinny, too old, too young, too tall, too short, but the extra boost that confidence, fueled by religion, superstition, and downright nonsense injects really can make a difference in many of life’s outcomes.

He makes a case that self-delusion, as a defense against hopelessness, is a crucial element in what it means to be human, and that it has provided actual evolutionary advantages. It may be that to err is human, but it would appear equally human to convince ourselves that we were right all along. Hallinan maintains that self-delusion not only exists across all human cultures but is present in animal psychology as well. Rats kid themselves too.

There will always be a danger that the limited range covered in this book will be taken by the con artists of the world as being more than it is and be presented as an “I told you so.” It isn’t. It is specific, illuminating and fascinating. I kid you not.

This book was received via GR's First Reads program - Thanks, folks

Review first posted in March 2014

=============================EXTRA STUFF

I did not find a web-site for the author unadorned, but here is one for his earlier book, Why We Make Mistakes.

Here is a wiki on a 1986 essay by philosopher Henry G. Frankfurt that seems germane, On Bullshit

And a few more musical links that fit right in, from Stevie Wonder, George Michael, and The Monkees. So many more could work here.

In Salon, an excerpt from an interesting book by Oliver Burkeman, Positive Thinking is for Suckers

October 22, 2014 - A NY Times article, What if Age Is Nothing but a Mind-Set, by Bruce Grierson, looks at the work done by psychologist Ellen Langer on aging and other medical issues. Fascinating stuff.

[Antigone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joseph Hallinan used to write for The Wall Street Journal and is the recipient of a Pulitzer Prize. Having done years of research on human error, he started to wonder why failures in perception hadn't been bred out of us by now. Turns out we need them. Turns out we need to fail a reality check every once in a while because, believe it or not, this gives us an edge when it comes to survival.

His study begins pleasantly enough. Lots of quotage from substantial sources, arranged and relayed in an accessible style. He makes good points, using anecdotes and vignettes that invite us to engage, and everything's humming along like innocuous soft rock music until...well, until Johann Sebastian Bach arrives. No lie, the guy goes from zero to sixty on the serious relevance highway and I'm not even aware of his having done so. I'm just, suddenly, nodding my head at how military prisoners, when denied any hope of release or escape by their captors and their fellow inmates are, to a man, dead men walking. (In essence, they die before they die.) How the more information you give a patient prior to surgery - whether he understands it or not - the better his odds for a successful outcome, and that's less about the data than it is the sense of control. How the mind is an amazing thing and can take a little piece of foolishness and spin it into actual good fortune.

This work contains much of the cutting edge thought currently found in neuroscience, all processed through a mind that genuinely understands it and can define it in intimately identifiable ways - daring you to draw comparisons with several shadowy aspects of your own personal life. It's a great addition to any library on the mysteries of the psyche, and I am pleased to add it to my own.

[Ms.pegasus · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hallinan's trawling expedition into the sea of data on self-deception has netted a mind-boggling catch. A loose categorization permits some initial organization: the placebo effect, crowd contagion, demoralization syndrome, confirmation bias, pre-conditioning, ad hoc reasoning, optimism bias, and magical thinking. The examples are drawn from the medical literature, psychology experiments, media accounts, political polls, and organizational theory. Is there anything to be learned in such a broad compendium crammed into a volume of slightly over 200 pages?

Pain, perception and belief are all contextual — nothing earthshaking with that statement. Hallinan's examples, however, elicit vivid images which add dimension to that colorless statement. The placebo effect was found to affect not just symptoms of pain, but asthma symptoms (Part I, chapter 1: “The Medicine of Imagination”). Turkish prisoners withstood a brutal POW captivity better than American prisoners in the same camp (Part I, chapter 3: “Fatal Instincts”). Rats conditioned to a taste aversion died when force fed the same liquid with the negative conditioning agent removed (the same chapter). Suicides briefly spiked after the death of Marilyn Monroe (Part I, chapter 2: “The Human Stampede”). Many of the examples were not unexpected. Early positive hype had a snowballing effect on the direction of online voting (the same chapter). People felt empowered by pressing a disconnected elevator button (Part II, chapter 3: “Control Freaks”). Gender bias affected resumé assessments (Part II, chapter 1: “Dial E for Expectation”).

However, including all of these examples in a single book and then offering inferences about self-deception from a few of these cases tends to level some very important differences. One of the recurring themes of the book is that self-deception can be beneficial. Thus, when he discusses fact denial in political opinions and states: “When our views are questioned, we often perceive that what is being challenged isn't merely a factoid we remembered or an opinion we've acquired, but something far more precious: our self esteem. And our reaction to a challenge of this nature is so powerful that it can alter — or, if you like, distort — the way we analyze information”(p.91), he seems to be taking an apologist position. There is a big difference in consequence between medieval villagers who believed in the curative power of bleeding and present-day birthers. Both examples are mentioned in the same chapter. Instead of medieval villagers, consider vaccine deniers (an example Hallinan does not mention). It's all very well to talk about self-esteem issues. The problem is that such self-delusions have a dangerous consequence for the broader society.

In pursuing his theme of the benefits of self-deception, Hallinan minimizes the downside of self-deception over time. He does acknowledge that a placebo isn't the same as a cure. A placebo can only affect the patient's subjective perception of a symptom. Mistaking a placebo (or a quack cure), for a real cure will, over time, result in deteriorating health if the disease is serious. In Part III (“Delusions of Success”) he states “Feeling powerful frees people from the shackles that inhibit action.” (p.158). The cases he cites, however, do not end well. Newt Gingrich's meteoric rise was followed by a reprimand for ethics violations and his resignation from the House.

In a later chapter (Part III, chapter 3: “Enduring the Blizzard”) Hallinan does make the distinction between permanent and temporary self-deception. It is the temporary delusion that can help a person through a period of crisis. However, he seems to assume that the mechanism for switching between realism and delusion is easily accessible. “We switch from reality to illusion and back again to reality as easily as the driver of a car switches his headlights from high beams to low, depending on which one affords the better view of the road ahead.” (p.184) Earlier, in Part II, chapter 2: “True Believers” he gave numerous examples of false beliefs that, like zombies, refuse to die. There's a sense of fluctuating conclusions. Sometimes this..., sometimes that....

In closing his book Hallinan furthers the sense of conflation by a glib conclusion: “...self-deception is not a flaw of our evolutionary design, but rather a feature. Under the right circumstances, it can provide us with intangible qualities, like confidence and optimism, that produce tangible results, like health and happiness. And beliefs that help sustain these qualities improve our chances of success — even if those beliefs are, at heart, an illusion of our own making.” (p.201) Evolution is indifferent to personal happiness, culture and social structure have permitted humans to insulate themselves from the process of natural selection, and finally, circumstances are constantly in flux for every individual.

Readers of this book might benefit most from considering specific examples, and referring to the underlying studies. However, the notes section is relegated to the end of the book and marked by chapter. In order to track down a source, the reader must refer to a second section, the bibliography. One interpretation I question is his reference to the aftermath of the Battle of the Little Bighorn (Part II, chapter 4: “Lucky Charms”). The Cheyenne and Sioux women pierced the eardrums of Custer's body. He uses this as an example of superstition. I always interpreted the incident as an act of defiant aggression: “NOW, can you hear us?”

A second quibble I had with Hallinan's interpretation was his discussion of power differential and motor control. He notes: “waiters [subjects playing the role of waiters] who felt powerless were more prone to bump into things on their right-hand side.” (p.152) The study (D. Wilkinson, et al, “Feeling Socially Powerless Makes you More Prone to Bumping into Things on the Right and Induces Leftward Line Bisection Error,” 2010) also found no significant difference between the control group and the empowered group. That finding dulled any conclusion that could be drawn about right/left brain function and the feeling of powerfulness.

Hallinan is a skillful writer, and many of the epigraphs he chose were apt. I suspect part of my negativity stems from having recently read Elizabeth Kolbert's SIXTH EXTINCTION, and from having read Hallinan's book during the run-up to the 2016 presidential election. I also found his constant reference to an inclusive "we" in his writing style somewhat grating.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This short book covers a lot of ground about its subject matter, which makes it shallow. It's not a bad introduction to some of the concepts. For me, there wasn't much new. And I could see possible errors in some of the conclusions the author (and in some cases the people who did the actual studies) came to. But still, the subject is fascinating, as is the conclusion that we all deceive ourselves and that many times it's a good thing.

There was a lot about people in power and how their confidence affects how they relate to other people. The word narcissism wasn't used once, but that is what is described. I hate to think it is as universal as the author seems to conclude, but it may be. Each instance described is a man, not a single woman in power. In fact, most of the people mentioned in the book are male and middle class or higher.

The book was a fast and easy read, and for me, that brought it up about a half star. But it reminds me that I'm not so into pop psychology and would rather read something by a professional than one by a journalist.

[Marta · Rating 2 out of 5]

**Received copy as part of goodreads firstreads giveaway**

The best thing about this book is:

It is an easy read that requires minimal attention.

I would recommend this book to:

People who really like to use creepy anecdotes about animal experiments, war crimes, and disease as conversation starters.

Reading this book is like:

Reading an article on slate.com.

If this book were a person it would be:
A co-worker who is not a bad person, but who really likes to tell you about a fascinating article they just read on slate. Also, this co-worker, who is not a bad person, is an annoying person. He or she is the type of person who would get really uncomfortable if you challenged his or her assertion that, in times of economic stress, people buy dogs like doberman pinschers and german sheperds. "Where did you read that?" You'd ask. "Slate.com. There was a really great article..." this person would reply. "Huh. I wonder where they found that statistic..." You might venture to say. Not out of any strong feelings, but just to, you know, pass the time, because, honestly, where did they get those figures? the american kennel club? did that study take into account rescue animals? did they have animal rescues/shelters in the 1930s? And somehow this would enrage this totally annoying co-worker because you were TOTALLY MISSING THE POINT and suddenly YOU'RE the annoying one. Which is just awkward.

If I could teach this book a lesson, through television, it would involve:

Showing this book the scene from True Detective where Rust and Marty are at a tent revival and Rust is all "look at these morons believing in religion, ugh" and Marty is all "when you talk like this, Rust, you sound panicked."

And then I'd gently say to the book "that's you, book, you sound panicked."

This book would pair well with:
The 7 Laws of Magical Thinking

I rated this book 2 stars because:
At it's core, it's a pretty terrible book. It makes a lot of unqualified assertions, and is generally ham-fisted, even for pop science/psychology. It has an overall condescending tone that seems inappropriate for the subject matter. Finally, it is casually misogynistic at times, like when it refers to the orphans in Annie as "girl" orphans (to remind you that boys are the default orphans?), and includes passages that read like "Now, I'm definitely NOT saying "bitches be crazy," but I do have to say that, well, the FACT is that the vast majority of people who succumb to mass hysteria are women. So, you know, uh...statistically speaking, bitches be, uh, significantly more prone to crazy."

[Darcia Helle · Rating 4 out of 5]

We've all heard the saying "Perception is everything", and Hallinan sets out to show us that our perception is largely personal, biased, and oddly stubborn in the face of opposing facts.

Kidding Ourselves is reader-friendly, pop science that looks at everything from how placebos work to why mass hysteria occurs. We're treated to examples that are both comical and compelling. Hallinan has an easy writing style, absent of academic language and complicated science. This is a book for anyone interested in the way our minds work to both help and deceive us.

This is a short read. While the print length is listed as 272 pages, much of that is Notes and Bibliography. I read this in Kindle format, and the content ends at 70%. I don't know what page number that would be, but I'd guess the actual content is under 200 pages in print. The light read works well for the casual reader, though I would have liked a bit more substance.

I had some issues with the generalities and conclusions reached with certain information. For instance, Hallinan talks about society's addiction to dietary supplements despite the fact that "they don't work". As proof, he tells us that studies found these things are a waste of money. This is gross misrepresentation of facts. While it's true that many studies show multivitamins are ineffective, that is not true of all or even most dietary supplements. He goes on to cite one particular study of vitamin E and prostate cancer, taking the enormous leap that, because it doesn't work as a treatment for prostate cancer, it is useless or even detrimental to our health overall. Here, I think Hallinan has shown us his own skewed perception of facts. There are countless studies proving the efficacy of various herbs and vitamins on specific chronic diseases. (Many studies of supplements are financed by pharmaceutical companies, which cannot own a patent on vitamins/herbs and therefore have every incentive to pronounce them useless.)

While I think we need to be careful of these over-generalizations, much of the information contained in this book is thought-provoking. Hallinan shares some interesting anecdotes, reminding us that reality can be a subjective thing.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book explores some of the current and classic research on error and self-deception, as a follow-up to the authors' previous book "Why we make mistakes". The interesting angle is that the author is trying to find out why people are so prone to self-deception, and what advantages there could be to having false beliefs.
He looks at some fairly straightforward studies on how self-perception and superstition influences performance and finds that optimism, belief in luckiness, and high self-opinions all contribute to better performance, while pessimism, fear of curses, and low self-opinions have the opposite effect. More interestingly, he also looks at more tangentially related research in the social sciences and finds some fascinating parallels in things like studies of how power effects people (bosses and leaders become measurably narcissistic and worse at understanding cues from others) and how people survived in concentration camps or as prisoners of war (those who maintained some feeling that they had some control over their situations tended to survive while those who lost hope did not) and builds a compelling case that self-delusion, optimism, and so on have real evolutionary advantages, within limits.
My main criticism of the book would be that although there are extensive end notes, he gives extremely brief summaries of the research he reports on and it is not always clear how their conclusions were reached, or even what the experiments consisted of. He is a journalist, not a scientist, and this has advantages and disadvantages. The book as a whole is pretty clear and a fast read, but the evidence is pretty incomplete.

Full disclosure: *I got a free copy of this book through the GoodReads 'first reads' program. This review was not required or otherwise compensated.*

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the author's other book, "Why We Make Mistakes," and thoroughly enjoyed it and his most recent book, "Kidding Ourselves," did not disappoint! It was a great read. "Kidding Ourselves," is an intriguing look at how we fool ourselves into believing the illusions our minds create instead of seeing reality. We do this for survival reasons. It's interesting how our illusions help us get through the difficult times in our lives. A real insightful and fascinating read!

[Judie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many years ago. I began to clean the house. I took out the vacuum cleaner and left it on the living room rug. I put some furniture polish on a cloth and took a swipe across the dining room table. I didn’t get any further than that. Later that day, when my husband and children got home, they each told me how nice the house looked, something they had never said before after I had spent hours thoroughly cleaning the house.
In KIDDING OURSELVES, Joseph T. Hallinan raises this phenomenon when he states that people see what they expect to see. A pedestrian or bicyclist is more likely to be hit by a car in an area where there are few other walkers or riders because the drivers are not looking for them. “Our perceptions conform to our expectations.”
A person who is told he is smart, will do better on a test than someone who is told he is below average. People in authority–teachers, baseball umpires, bosses–will give more credit to someone they think is superior regardless of the actual results.
We look for rationalizations to explain what we have done or seen. Self-deception allows us to adjust to life’s realities by altering our perceptions of them. What counts is not what is real but what we believe is real. Hallinan explains both positive and negative reasons and effects for this phenomenon.
Robert Frost said, “Why abandon a belief merely because it ceases to be true?” In fact, the opposite may be true. People become more entrenched to a belief because they think admitting they were wrong damages their self-esteem. Even with more than ninety percent of scientists saying that global warming is real and dangerous, a sizable number of people don’t believe it and won’t change their habits to try to reduce the damage. More Americans today(61%) believe that the assassination of President Kennedy was the result of a conspiracy than did in 1963 (52%). In fact, more believe that than believe in Darwin’s theory of evolution (39%).
Elected officials don’t believe that fiscal stimulus helps the economy add jobs, according to Christina Romer, because they are “arguing from ideology rather than evidence.” Providing proof often causes people to become more firm in their opinions because they believe their self-esteem is being threatened.
Many bosses have tunnel vision. The only opinion that counts is their own. Underlings tend to try to agree with the boss. This was one of the reasons for the Cuban Missile crisis during John Kennedy’s administration: None of his advisors dared to disagree with him. Afterwards, his brother Bobby served aa his Devil’s Advocate to be sure that other perspectives were considered.
In well-written, easy to understand format, KIDDING OURSELVES helps us recognize the tricks we play on ourselves and how they can be helpful or harmful. The only parts that I questioned were Hallinan’s statements about the high frequency of people marrying people who have the same last name (I know of only two such cases and in one of them the names were spelled differently) and that after a series of ballot initiatives, “California voters tended to mimic the positions of their political party (and were blind to the fact that they were doing just that.” Many voters support candidates with whom they agree before voting for them, not visa versa.
I received an advance copy of this book through LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

From page 182, "Wholesale delusions get you nowhere but the asylum. But trace amounts of delusion, like trace amounts of certain minerals in our diet, appear to be essential to our health and welfare, providing the key ingredient for perseverance: optimism."

Author Joseph T. Hallinan does not offer much new material here, but he does distill findings from numerous studies detailing how consistently we delude ourselves, both to our ruin and our profit.

[A Sanford]

Excellent book. Written in 2014 but spot on in describing some of the trends that we've seen since the 2016 election. Gives excellent insights into the ways in which human beings compensate when they feel they are powerless to control their own lives. Best quote is from Abraham Lincoln: Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.

[Nathan Albright · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is sort of the flip side of the author's previous book on why we make mistakes.  This is the sort of book that happens fairly organically for a writer.  First one researches a subject in great detail, and then one finds that in the course of doing one's original research one has enough or almost enough material for another book that is related to the previous one but has a slightly different focus.  So David McCullough turned his scraps from a John Adams biography into a thoughtful discussion of the year of America's Declaration of Independence, and so Joseph Hallinan turns his scraps on mistakes people make to the way in which the systematic biases of the overly optimistic and self-deluded mind are in fact a good thing and that given that we need confidence to survive, that which gives us confidence is a good thing [1].  As was the case with the author's previous work, there is a great deal of humanity in the author's approach and he deals with the subject of confidence and self-deception with a great deal of gentleness and mildness, something that many readers are likely to appreciate.

Like Gaul, this book is divided into three parts, beginning with a discussion of the power of nothing (placebos and the like), with chapters on the medicine of imagination (1), the human stampede of mass delusions (2), and fatal delusions that can kill people and animals thanks to the power of the nocebo (3).  The second part of the book looks at the eye of the beholder problem, examining the power of expectations (4), the benefits that come to people who are true believers (5), the way that human beings seem to obsessively need control over our environment (6), and the way that superstition runs far deeper than our much-vaunted rationality, especially when times are difficult (7).  The last section of the book looks at the delusions of success, including the way that people often become drunk with power (8), think that the bad things that happen to others can't happen to them (9), and the ways that delusions can provide the hope that allows people to survive adversity and difficulty (10).  The book's main point appears to be that since confidence is necessary to survive, the sort of accuracy of understanding that comes from being depressed is often decidedly negative, and so we should not judge ourselves too harshly for preferring illusion.

While the author's point in this book is rather humane and delivered with a high degree of tact and mildness, the author's points about rationality and delusions are nonetheless immensely troubling.  Is there a way to gain the benefit of optimism without allowing it to lead us into deception?  The author appears to present the reader with a false dilemma by which delusion and error on the one hand are countered by a depressive realism that leads people into ruin and self-destruction.  He does not present a picture by which a faith that ultimately matches a deeper reality than he recognizes serve the aims of both truth and success, only leaving the reader with the idea that faith in anything is better than faith in nothing.  Perhaps if the author were himself a person of faith himself, it would be easier for him to seek a synthesis between his praise of faith and his general skepticism about that which human beings have faith in.  Instead the author leaves the reader with a puzzle, but no way out of the maze we often find ourselves in when struggling with what to believe in.

[1] See, for example:

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2014...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2011...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2018...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...

[Lisa Niver · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wrote about this book for Medium: Are Long Term Relationships the Key to FUNDING?

Are Long Term Relationships the Key to FUNDING?
With nearly endless books, workshops and talks about how to get your new idea funded, it is hard to clear through all the noise to figure out what to do. I decided to go to a Funding Post event with a Venture Capital and Angel Roundtable at the Bingham Law Office in Los Angeles. There was a panel of featured speakers, a pitch competition and networking directly with local early-stage Angel Investors and Venture Capitalists. I realized the advice I have been giving my students and clients for years about being kind and developing relationships is still the golden ticket.

As I listened to the panelists speak, many shared a nugget about how their priority is to find the right match. Cameron Casey (M7lab), believes the most important factor is finding someone that you can work with and who is coachable. Many people search for money or mentoring and forget to build a foundation before asking for financing.

Similar advice of always be networking and search for all types of people including other entrepreneurs, investors, and bankers was heard from Stephen Block (K5 Venture Partners). I agree that you never know how the people you meet will turn into your top team. I once went to Koh Samui because of a tweet from a fellow travel blogger. I met one of her roommates who has now been my tech wizard for two years. I did not have that island on my trip plan but followed my instincts and found someone who has changed the course of my website and business. Block shared a truth that: “People invest with friends, the ones they know.” While you are out at events or traveling the planet, you just might find the person who holds the key to your next step.

After thirty years of investment experience, Mary Coughlin, founder and Chief Investment Officer of Barnegat Bay Capital Management, says early meetings are always about getting to know people. “If there is a future fit we might work together but even if we don’t, each of us is enriched in some way for having connected.” Often potential partners are sizing each other up from minute one to see if a deal can happen but Coughlin suggests remembering “that long term relationships are imperative” and being willing to devote the time it takes to develop them is essential.

I personally consider myself a networking ninja and collect interesting people everywhere I go. I felt that Marcus O. Filipovich (The Design Accelerator) summed up the theme of relationship building, when he said: “People invest in people that they like. The funding relationship has elements of a marriage. You need to hit it off.” A business relationship is like all the other relationships in your life. They all need time, care and consistency.

Many people want to create a winning company. In Kidding Ourselves: The Hidden Power of Self-Deception, Joseph Hallinan explains that: “We are what psychologists like to call “risk optimists’..sticking with something helps. It leads to optimism, which leads to perseverance, which leads to success.” It is crucial to believe in yourself and build connections over time.

One aspect that is sometimes forgotten in the pursuit of the perfect match is to be discriminating. Tom Nicholson (ARC Angel Fund) agrees that it is all about the associations. “Start them and keep them. You need to have good chemistry and an idea. Pursue connections and evaluate the investors as much as they are evaluating you.” Often in search of the deal, entrepreneurs forget to evaluate if it is meeting their needs. Both sides have to be gaining advantage for a true partnership to survive.

In Nothing Changes Until You Do: A Guide to Self-Compassion and Getting Out of Your Own Way, Mike Robbins says:

Too often in life, we unnecessarily overcomplicate things. As Woody Allen famously said, “Eighty percent of life is just showing up.” I think he’s right and that’s true whether we’re giving a speech, going out on a first date, having an important meeting at work, playing with our kids, trying something new, working on a creative project, or doing just about anything in life—big or small.
Sometimes in the search for the perfect way to make a deal or get funded we forget the basics. As Wayne Gretzky famously said, “You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take.” Show up, have integrity and believe in yourself and your company.

As Robbins says in Nothing Changes Until You Do: “Focus your attention on three things—have your attitude be as positive as it can be, your effort as passionate as possible, and your perspective as healthy as you’re able, then you can be a productive member of this…team…Remembering these things will help you engage effectively in anything that happens.”

TEN STEPS To SUCCESS from Betsy Flanagan, Founder & CEO, WorkStrengths

1. Go to networking events & track who you meet. Keep a spreadsheet with their information and short notes about what you talked about so you can refer to it later (e.g. their latest project, what they are excited about/focused on) OR if you connect on LinkedIn you can put this in the notes section. This is great because you never know in your 45+ year career when your paths may cross again!

2. Look for similarities with others and highlight them (oh, I see you are from Maryland too, or I also went to Harvard, or I saw you mentioned yoga in your twitter feed — I teach yoga… but of course — don’t look like a stalker!).

3. Appear competent — ask good questions! This requires doing your homework.

4. Dress the part, don’t slouch and watch your body language. over 60% of communication is non-verbal.

5. Follow up with the people you meet: go to coffee, talk on the phone, send some emails. Smart people like to meet other smart people! Make sure your emails to them, phone call or coffee is time well spent. Emails should be short and to the point. Do not make it all about you and do your homework — don’t ask questions that you can easily google the answer to.

6. Find ways to be helpful to the people you meet at these events and others in your network. Give back — think/see if there is something you can help them with (e.g. if you are social media expert — take a look at their social media and see if you could offer suggestions for improvement — but do this tactfully. don’t come across as know it all). Or consider volunteering some time to help them with a project, or sending them information that may be valuable to them.

7. Build a network of people who you can regularly ask questions, get advice and learn from.

8. Use your connections — school, friends, family, past coworkers, professional organizations, sports teammates, contacts you make volunteering, social media connections and make your dreams come true

9. If you are a student — take advantage of this! People LOVE to help students and are generally happy to chat for 15 minutes or go to coffee. But don’t ask for a lot of time. Keep your ask short (15–20 min call or coffee).

10. Be strategic — in who you reach out to, who you invest in (who you volunteer your time for, etc. Time is a valuable and scarce resource).

About the Author: Lisa Ellen Niver is a is a passionate writer, educator, social media expert, speaker and global citizen who has traveled to over one hundred countries and six continents. She writes for Wharton Business Magazine and founded the top 100 Travel Site, We Said Go Travel.


https://medium.com/@wesaidgotravel/ar...

[Sheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I was percolating along right happily, enjoying this book considerable, until I got halfway through, when things got pretty wonky. Not to mention, things got subtly hilarious, if you believe the book describes valid phenomenon (which I do).

First, Hallinan quotes Christina Romer as saying that the evidence is “stronger than ever” that fiscal stimulus helps the economy add jobs. Anyone who has read up on the subject knows that, while you could argue that the evidence in favor of fiscal stimulus may be “stronger than ever,” that’s essentially a meaningless statement. There’s considerable debate over what fiscal stimulus even is. Lowering taxes is considered fiscal stimulus, but in the long run isn’t going to change anything if expenses aren’t lowered as well (which they just about never are). OTOH, an increase in public spending is also considered “fiscal stimulus,” even though it will, by definition, ultimately raise taxes!

In essence, “fiscal stimulus” is code for “the government is going to do something,” but since that term covers multiple contradictory things, any statement about “fiscal stimulus” accomplishing anything is meaningless, because fiscal stimulus is an undefined element. The argument that Obama’s particular methods of stimulus have been shown to be successful is equally invalid. It’s debatable whether his “cash for clunkers” program accomplished anything more than condensing car sales into the months when it was active, for instance, while it raised the price of used cars about $2000.

Anyone who thinks that kicking the price of used cars up $2000 helps the poor to find new jobs is not living in the Midwest, where getting and keeping a job without owning a car is a serious challenge. This result was predicted by people who were convinced that Obama’s policies were going to hurt both the poor and the economy, which is true of a number of aspects of Obama’s “fiscal stimulus efforts.” The people who made those predictions – and who have reported the negative results -- would argue that the supposedly “strong” evidence supporting Romer was pathetically weak.

Then a few pages later, the author says, “Take a topic that everyone loves to hate: income taxes. Before looking at the graphs that follow, ask yourself a question: are income taxes too high, too low, or just right?” The author then offers a graph showing that the “top marginal tax rates in the United states… from 1956 to 2012” and says, “These rates have gradually declined, from 91 percent in the late 1950s to 35 percent as of 2012. That’s quite a drop.” Then the author says, “public perception of tax rates has barely budged… The percentage of Americans who think taxes are too high has almost always remained above 50 percent – no matter what the tax rate actually is.”

This section implies that taxes have dropped, while people’s conviction that “taxes are too high” has remained the same. That is false. The US has a “graduated” tax rate system, with higher rates for the rich, and the tax rate for the top rank of that tier has indeed dropped considerable. And it has dropped considerable because study after study shows that the government gets more money from the rich when the rich deal with relatively low taxes. As the tax rate goes up, the number of rich people goes down, both because people start rearranging their finances to stay in lower tax brackets, and because people in that tax bracket can more easily dodge taxes. Even the ultimate dodge – changing nationality – is easiest for the very rich. The government’s goal should be to keep the tax rate below the point where the negative impact outweighs the money collected; while there’s considerable debate over where that point may be (some put it lower, some higher), just about everyone agrees that taxing the top tier over 40% is counterproductive. Which is why the marginal tax rate on the top tier hasn’t gone higher than that since 1990 or so.

But while the marginal tax rate on the rich has gone down, the tax rate in general has gone up. In the 1950s, Tax Freedom Day – which measures how many days of the year the average American has to work to pay their taxes – was late March or early April, and the per person tax rate was about 25% of their income (this number includes sales tax, etc.). Currently, Tax Freedom Day is April 24, and as a nation we are paying 31% of our income to the government. So what is surprising about the book’s second chart is not that the percentage of people who think taxes are too high hasn’t gone down as taxes went down, as the book implies – what’s surprising is that more people aren’t outraged about the tax rate!

In the next section, the author argues that people are in denial about how much they depend on the government, and that’s why states that receive the highest rate of government transfers “vote conservative.” While Hallinan is correct that people who make use of government social programs regularly deny it, he is not correct that it is people who receive public housing, food stamps, medicare, etc. are more likely to vote conservative. Anyone who lives in an area with public housing knows that those areas are strongly for the Democrat party, and strongly for the most liberal democrats, and studies bear this out; 81% of people in public housing vote Democrat. 74% of those on Medicaid, ditto. And so on down the line.

Hallinan also ignores the fact that, in many of the historically poorer states, they have historically voted liberal but have recently shifted conservative, and the strongest shift seems to be among the working poor. The poor who do not work full time are still strongly liberal; the working poor are the ones losing faith in that approach. Hallinan is looking at statistics that are isolated in time about historically poorer states (and historically liberal states) that may be in the midst of a shift from liberal to conservative.

The author also makes the common mistake of believing that the President is responsible for things that happen during his term(s); Presidents should not get the blame (or the credit) for what Congress does when the President was opposed to it.

As is true of many books about prejudice and blindness and how the brain works without our realizing it, the author is just inadvertently demonstrating the depth of the problems he discusses. Even when, presumably, heightened to the risk by the subject of his book, when it comes to political and economic topics, Hallinan still ends up “kidding himself.” I’m sure he didn’t do it on purpose, but it is a nice demonstration of how deep these tendencies go.

[Gabrielam13 · Rating 3 out of 5]

O colecție interesantă de cazuri care ilustrează puterea pe care subconștientul o are asupra vieții noastre de zi cu zi. În ciuda faptului că ne considerăm ființe raționale, ignorăm uneori cu desăvârșire importantul rol pe care îl joacă propriile credințe, mentaliăți înrădăcinate, instincte etc. Adesea aportul pe care acestea le aduc este unul negativ, precum bula iluzorie în care suntem cu toții imersați și care ne face să ne simțim de neatins: accidentele ne mașină nu ni se pot întâmpla nouă, cancerul nu se atinge ne noi, ca să nu mai vorbim de moarte, care ne este complet străină. Altădată aceste forțe inconștiente pot fi binefăcătoare, precum sentimentul că suntem în control și care ne poate ajuta să trecem mai ușor peste situații stresante, dificile.

Poveștile lui Hallinan mi s-au părut negreșit interesante, însă unele dintre acestea au ilustrat principiul pe care încerca să îl dovedească printr-o corelație destul de slabă, neconvingătoare. Acest neajuns este, totuși, un neajuns al științelor sociale în general, căci complexitatea comportamentelor umane este destul de greu de disecat, ceea ce îngreunează găsirea unei cauze unice și indubitabile a faptelor noastre. Cu toate acestea, mesajul cărții și-a pus amprenta asupra mea, căci, dacă înainte consideram că adevărul este de preferat în mod absolut, am început să accept posibilitatea că o dulce iluzie poate fi de folos mai ales acolo unde realitatea este greu de digerat fără o lingură de zahăr.

[Jessi · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a lot in this book about how we fool ourselves. I appreciated that the author included when that is and is not good. I feel like I have read this book before but don't have it in Goodreads so I may have read similar books.
I liked that he linked the high sense of control to long living rather than luck or anything else. It is one of those ways that he says are good for us to deceive ourselves. It particularly resonated with me because I just left a situation where I had little control. But maybe that is just the perception bias that Hallinantalks about in the book.

[Zem · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book felt like a laundry list of insights garnered from various interesting studies related to self-deception. I definitely found some fascinating tidbits in this book - for example, the book addresses how hypochondria alone is powerful enough to cause death & why facts don't work to convince people to change their minds. Overall it's a bit of a light read.

[Tamilyn White · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining look at the crazy things we tell ourselves-and crazier things that we don’t. Written so conversationally it’s easy to forget that you are reading research based information. Read this. You will think differently about how you think differently.

[Rachel Shallenberger · Rating 5 out of 5]

It talks about several different topics, and it does it in layman's terms, with stories and clear, concise explanations. Definitely entertaining to read, skillfully organized, and honestly, practically helpful! Recommended

[Caroline · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't get into this one. I didn't like the way it was written; it felt very choppy and a little disjointed. I can't quite put my finger on it. I lost interest about half way through and didn't ever have the desire to pick it up again.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well done! The wretched truth as to why religion is actually probably good for you, though I still need the path from atheism to optimism mapped out for me.

[Allan Laal · Rating 4 out of 5]

a proper behavioral psychology book!

[Stewart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joseph T. Hallinan’s 2014 book, “Kidding Ourselves: The Hidden Power of Self-Deception,” covers some of the same ground as his 2009 book “Why We Make Mistakes” and a few other books I read (two books by David McRaney come to mind). Nonetheless there is new information and insight in this book about that all-too-common trait of humans: self-delusion.
This book – with its 40 pages of notes and bibliography at the end – looks at the powerful placebo effect, our expectations and how they help shape our reality, beliefs true and false, mass hysteria, the prevalence of superstition, and the relation between power and delusion.
Two topics in particular grabbed my attention: the power of expectations and why people hold on to beliefs that are demonstrably untrue.
Hallinan spends a chapter on expectations and how they help mold our view of reality. “Many studies over the last half century have established that expectation is a powerful force, affecting both mind and body. It acts on our perception much as gravity acts on light, bending it in ways that are measurable but nevertheless imperceptible. Not only do we tend to see what we expect to see, but we tend to experience what we expect to experience.”
One example of our experiencing the world as we think its should is the fact, in polls and interviews, that Americans – brought up in an egalitarian belief system if not an egalitarian society – believe that wealth is more evenly distributed in the U.S. than it actually is. Many of us may remember instances in our lives where we and another person were present at the same event but our recollections are somewhat different, or perhaps very much different. Two persons rooting for two different sports teams in a game will see that game differently, especially the close plays, all filtered through a bias.
In the chapter “True Believers,” Hallinan looks at what has, in my opinion, become one of the major problems in the United States in recent years, people tenaciously holding beliefs that are untrue despite all evidence to the contrary presented to them. The list is long: the JFK assassination (a vast conspiracy), U.S. taxes (the highest in the world), Barack Obama’s birthplace (Kenya), global warming (a hoax).
“[M]ore people believe in the conspiracy theory of the Kennedy assassination [61 percent] than believe in Darwin’s theory of evolution (just 39 percent according to Gallup).”
It seems many Americans don’t care if what they believe is true or not, and they will hold these positions even more strongly if someone presents facts that contradict them. What kind of world will we live in if facts and logic don’t matter, where the truthfulness or untruthfulness of beliefs makes no difference, and where people think that believing something long enough and fervently enough and saying it over and over make it true?
Hallinan provides insight into why people so strongly hold onto false beliefs and get defensive and angry when they are disputed. “When our views are challenged,” he wrote, “we often perceive that what is being challenged isn’t merely a factoid we remembered or an opinion we’ve acquired, but something far more precious: our self-esteem.”
It’s not exactly news to me that many people perceive any disagreement with their beliefs to be a personal attack. Hallinan presents studies that show a correlation between self-esteem and the ability to correct false beliefs. Brendan Nyhan of Dartmouth and Jason Reifler of Georgia State are quoted in the book. They ran experiments that showed that facts don’t change minds. The problem is self-esteem. They said “that people cling to false beliefs in part because giving them up would threaten their sense of self.”
The book ends with the observation that self-deception is not always a bad thing; it can help us get through bad times.
He writes: “My goal here has been simply to point out that self-deception, for all its obvious downsides, is an inherent human trait. It has been around for a long time, and it endures for a reason: under limited but crucial circumstances, it helps us persevere.”
This is a valuable book for those with the courage to understand our tendencies to self-delusion and perhaps lessen these tendencies.

[Sheng · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kidding Ourselves was all about examining various case studies and effect of self-deception/self-delusion, the moments where our own judgement is way off the mark and leads to consequences ranging from the beneficial, such as improving our own tolerance to pain or confidence, to the fatal.

What I liked about this book was that it was way interesting and managed to keep me reading from chapter to chapter without ever feeling like the content was too dry. Joseph T. Hallinan does a great job breaking up the content into intriguing chapters that delve into the different quirky aspects of our self-delusion. There were not any groundbreaking or momentous discoveries within the pages that massively surprised me but the findings were all quite eye-opening. Some of the reports in the book definitely explained some real-life phenomenon that we can see in our daily lives, like the inability of people in power to judge the real emotions of their subordinates or why sometimes people can literally die from a broken heart. Other interesting nuggets of information included how everyone doesn't think cancer/diseases or any other negative things will happen to them and that it'll only affect other people, the power of believing in superstitions rather than the power in superstitions themselves, the surprising benefits of feeling like you're in control regardless of whether you are not and the minor god complex that occurs when your predictions just so happen to match occurrences that are absolutely by chance like coin tosses. It's all very informative and definitely makes me much more aware now of the limitations or fallacies to my own reasoning and thinking now.

The real takeaway from this book is confusing. The placebo/nocebo effect is all about deluding your mind but when you become more self-aware about such self-deception, second guessing comes into play for all of your actions. Is this truly due to my ability or am i over/underestimating what I am capable of? Am I really in control or is everything out of my hands? Should I be attributing my successes or failures to only me or external factors? The list goes on and on and on. It's hard to fully take advantage of the findings in this book in terms of the placebo effect for when the benefits are derived from a lack of awareness of your misunderstandings, being in the know puts you at a disadvantage in a way.

Overall, this book was pretty interesting and the information was presented in a clear and concise manner. It was a little short at around 200 pages so I feel like there's room for more information to be included. Other than that, it was a good read. 3.5/5

[Leland Beaumont · Rating 4 out of 5]

We are taught truth is a virtue, but this book provides many examples of where illusions and distortions are often helpful. Apparently “self-deception is a facet—and not a flaw—of our evolutionary development”.

The placebo effect—the illusion that an inert pill or procedure is helpful—often results in healing only because it deceives the patient. Franz Anto Mesmer was able to treat disease using only belief in “Animal Magnetism”. The effect was so powerful and mysterious that Benjamin Franklin was asked to investigate it. After many careful experiments the report concluded “Magnetism without the imagination produce nothing.” William James notes “Belief creates the actual fact.”

Strange maladies sometimes spread throughout a town propagated only by belief and fear. These mass delusions result in real symptoms, and only disappear when the beliefs causing them are overcome. People can die of a broken heart, despondency, or stress. This is death by hypochondria, and it’s no longer all in your head.

Many examples demonstrate that “Not only do we tend to see what we expect to see, we also tend to experience what we expect to experience.” Furthermore: “Once we have skin in the game, or ability to be objective goes out the window.” Purpose precedes perception. Once we form a belief, “we tend to slant the way we process information in such a way as to preserve our underlying beliefs.” This effect is often so strong that providing more evidence contrary to the belief often strengthens that belief.

The examples continue, demonstrating that “having a sense of control has been constantly linked with physical health”, superstition breeds confidence, power leads to an illusion of control, and we are optimistic that luck will protect us from risk.

Is delusion a defect in our thinking that has escaped eons of evolution? In fact, several of these delusions are helpful. Optimism—an unrealistic belief that things will turn out better for you—leads to persistence. “There is a strong connection between depression and realism.” Optimistic people are healthier. And it seems “we deal with reality by unconsciously distorting it.” Apparently “self-deception is not a flaw of our evolution design, but a feature.”

Don’t kid yourself; self-deception is an inherent human trait. This book helps us understand it and accept it.

Overall the book presents a clear argument well supported by evidence. The book is well written, accessible, and fun to read. It can help us see more clearly the many circumstances in which we fail to see clearly.

[Rachel Blom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kidding Ourselves is a fascinating, easy-to-read book, but one that makes you shake your head at times. This book explains why we so often kid ourselves and what incredible power these beliefs have—even when they’re wrong. He shows, for instance, why placebos work and how people who think they have cancer become sick, even when they’re physically healthy. Also fascinating is why we think others are at risk for certain things and why they need protection (seat belts, bike helmet), but we don’t. This explains (and sorry if this is rather unsettling) why doctors have a low compliancy rate of washing their hands, because they think they won’t get ill (though the rate goes up when they’re confronted with possible negative consequences for their patients).
But the chapter called ‘True Believers’ really hit home for me. Here, the authors explains how stubborn our beliefs and convictions are—even when they’re wrong. We tend to cling to our beliefs at all costs, even in the face of contradicting evidence. Nowhere is this more true than in politics, the book states. This is why in 2012 in a poll amongst Republican voters in Ohio (then a swing state in the presidential elections) only 38% said President Obama deserved the credit for killing Osama bin Laden. That’s a low score, considering he was Commander in Chief at the time and gave the order. But even more startling is that his opponent in the elections, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney got the credit from 15% of the Republican voters. Romney wasn’t even in office at the time of the raid and even is he had been, he’d clearly not been involved—yet 15% of Republican voters credited him with something he could have never done. And other research shows that correcting those beliefs with facts doesn’t help. On the contrary, exposing people to facts that contradicted their beliefs only reaffirmed and strengthened their convictions.
In case you need more anecdotal evidence, consider this one: in 2013, the former bodyguard of Adolf Hitler died, a man named Rochus Misch. He’d been with Hitler until the end, in that infamous bunker in Berlin. Until the day he died, Misch denied Hitler had ever spoken of killing 6 million Jews, let alone been guilty of executing those plans. That’s how powerful beliefs are…A sobering thought, considering what’s happening right now.
Anyways, I thoroughly enjoyed this book (even if the connection between the various forms of self-deception the author describes is somewhat anecdotal).

[Carol Rogero · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Power of Delusion
Do we unconsciously deceive ourselves regularly? If so, is it a limiting or strengthening act? American writer William Arthur Ward is often quoted as saying, “If you can imagine it, you can achieve it. If you can dream it, you can become it.” If we say we’re capable of achieving something before we truly have a plan as to how, is it delusion, motivation, self protection or all three? Do our own expectations and/or the expectations others have about us mature into self fulfilling realities? Do we unconsciously control the outcome of events with our thoughts? Is the outcome of optimism tangible?
Joseph T. Hallinan, in his engaging new book Kidding Ourselves- The Hidden Power of Self Deception, explores how the human mind processes information and helps readers understand the many factors that affect our perception. Without being uber technical or boorishly sterile he cites a plethora of interesting studies from all areas of life relating a moderate amount of self delusion to productivity, optimism, a sense of well being, good health and success. Along with learning that the word "mesmerized" actually originated with a German named Franz Anton Mesmer, in 1778, Hallinan's interesting stories and examples gave me fresh perspectives on human behaviors both positive and negative.
I came away with an even greater appreciation of the undeniable power of the placebo effect, faking it until you make it, and the power of positive thinking. It’s definitely a bookshelf “keeper” that I’m sure I’ll return to. Each section elicited introspection and reflection, with lots of “Aha moments” along the way. Like the Little Engine That Could or the slow and steady tortoise in the fable The Tortoise and the Hare, Hallinan’s motto is “what matters is what we believe”, and I believe that!

I received this book from the Blogging for Books program in exchange for this honest review.

[Dana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I dove into this book expecting to love it, but I was disappointed.

Some of the author’s examples of self-deception have no concrete link to self-deception. For example, in the chapter on how feeling hopeless, helpless or trapped can cause the brain to prematurely give up and the body to die even when there’s still a chance to survive, there’s a few pages on fatal heart attacks brought on by acute emotional distress. A sudden flood of stress hormones triggering a heart attack isn’t really death-by-self-deception. The same chapter includes a section on soldiers brainwashed into losing the will to live. I wouldn’t count prolonged mental abuse/manipulation as *self*-deception either.

Or take the chapter on how we deceive ourselves through herd mentality, where the spike of copycat suicides following Marilyn Monroe’s suicide is cited. People who are depressed and suicidal are influenced by heavily publicized suicides. These people commit suicide because of their vulnerable mental state, not because their mind is suddenly tricking them into killing themselves.

The book also contains factual inaccuracies, such as that yawning has no purpose (yawning is a mechanism for cooling the brain when it gets overheated) or that dietary supplements are useless (they’re very helpful for vitamin deficiencies, pregnant women, people with poor diets, etc.).

There is a ton of interesting and useful information in this book, such as discussion on nocebos (the opposite of placebos), seeing what we expect to see, performing as well (or as badly) as we expect to perform, how we react when in/not in control, feeling immune to risks, etc. But I feel that the author could have been more careful with his example selections and fact-checking. This is the type of book I’d recommend borrowing from the library or getting used/on-sale, not paying full-price for.

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kidding Ourselves discusses a few of the hows - and, more importantly, the whys - about our human tendency toward self deception. Although it is essentially a science book, it is easily accessible for the average person and requires no scientific background to understand.

Hallinan cites research from psychology, economics, and anthropology to back up his claims that we are constantly deceiving ourselves, sometimes to our benefit, but other times to our detriment. He, like many prominent scientists, concludes that reality isn't just colored by our perceptions; in fact, our perceptions can, and often do, create our reality. I will add a caveat here that the idea of perceptions creating reality is still controversial and not entirely accepted by the scientific community as a whole. Hallinan's examples were fun, interesting, relevant, and included several of the key ones to support the perception=reality concept. However, Hallinan does not include or discuss research which would refute his claim. Just as in the example of Samuel George Morton and Stephen Jay Gould and the skulls, one must ask here if Hallinan purposely ignored these studies or if he deceived himself into thinking they weren't valid or relevant.

I loved Hallinan's writing style. It's easy (and quick) to read, and one chapter flowed right into the next until I suddenly realized I had finished the entire book. Anyone interested in neuroscience, cognition, or human behavior should find this book a worthwhile read.

Highly recommended!

I received a free copy as part of the First Reads program.

[Claudia Sorsby · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was interesting, but it didn't tell me much I didn't already know. I was particularly annoyed by the mention that the only folks who generally aren't overly optimistic are the clinically depressed--which sounds okay, until he goes on to illustrate all the ways in which we really need that bit of optimism. For those who don't have it? His only comment, at the end, is that depression is a quagmire, best avoided. That's not exactly helpful; it's sort of like saying, "Yeah, don't get sick, it's not good for you."

There's also one bit that my dorky baseball-fan-self wants to check out. In the section on superstition, Hallinan quite naturally mentions baseball players, who are indeed famous, as a group, for being superstitious. While it was cool to see an explanation for why their superstitiousness actually makes some sense (generally, people develop superstitions as a way of trying to assert some kind of control in highly difficult endeavors where they can't really control much), one of his examples seems off.

He mentions Wade Boggs, who famously ate chicken before every game, check. But then he goes on to say that "Boggs always practiced batting and wind sprints at the same time of day (5:17 p.m. and 7:17 p.m., respectively)...". But that's not possible: Most major league games begin between 7:05 and 7:10 p.m. (at least on the East Coast, which is where Boggs played most of his games). There's simply no way a starting 3rd baseman could have been running wind sprints seven minutes into a game, or taking batting practice.

I know, I know, it's a minor point, but it's the sort of thing that nags at me.