Will Self-Delusion Be Our End?

by Dave Kahle

In recent months I’ve become acutely aware of our unlimited capacity to live in self-delusion, and the specter of catastrophe that accompanies it.

           It’s not like I didn’t know that before.  But it was relegated to that realm of  below -the-conscious awareness.  Sort of like the bougainvillea’s in our front yard.  They silently and steadily grow until their thorny branches interfere with our passing by. I knew they were there, slowing encroaching on all the space around them. At some point they take up so much space that I couldn’t ignore them anymore.

           So, it is with self-delusion. It’s a part of the human condition that extends back to the Garden of Eden.  It’s always been there.  But, it seems to have seeped into almost every area of our lives and become the accepted habit for much of the culture. Self-delusion is proliferating in our culture.

     Do you watch American Idol?  In some of the early auditions, it is clear to everyone that some of the contestants have no business trying to sing.  They just don’t have it. Yet, after they are told that by the judges, they often accuse the judges of ignorance.  They really are talented, they tell themselves, it’s everyone else who is wrong.  And so, they waste time and energy on an endeavor fated to fail.  Their shortcoming is covered by self-delusion.

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Some years ago, a similarly themed TV contest encouraged inventors to have their inventions judged by professionals.  One contestant had created an expensive board game.  At a time when video games were more interesting, more challenging and cheaper, he had invested his life saving into this concept, and was living in a car, funneling all his energy and resources into developing it. It was a good idea for a different time and fated for failure in his lifetime.  Yet, in spite of the flaws the judges pointed out, he was convinced that his invention was viable.  Self-delusion ruled his life.

           In a more professional setting, I was struck by the self-delusion in a board of directors for one of my clients.  When confronted with the evidence that only one of their top ten customers was profitable, they shelved the report and pretended it didn’t exist.  Better to delude ourselves then to confront the implications of the truth.

           While we can all point to self-delusion operating in some of those around us, the real danger occurs when it becomes part of the culture and infects the majority of people.

           I’m afraid that is happening today.  Self-delusion is everywhere.  I see it in the politicians who made decisions that impact our lives. It is easier to pretend the world is on their side then to face the truth of the real positions of their constituents.

           I see in the anonymous social media ... CLICK HERE TO READ FULL ARTICLE