A different kind of gift.
Poll Ugly thoughts.
On my way into work today, I listened to an episode of Radio Lab about Deception. The last segment in the show related to self-deception, and a study run by psychiatrists Harold Sackeim and Ruben Gur.
Sackeim and Gur devised a questionnaire for people asking them all kinds of uncomfortable questions that they considered to be just about universal truths. If you indicated 'no' to their questions, they believed that you were deceiving yourself.
Subsequent studies using this questionnaire have found that the people who rate high on the self-deception scale generally do better in life. They are happier and more successful. In one study, two researchers from Colgate University applied these questions to members of the school's swim team, and found that those who were better at self-deception won more often. Those who are LESS self-deceptive, who are more realistic, more in tune with their own weaknesses and just how shitty things are? They're more depressed than others.
The conclusion? The ability to deceive yourself is a gift. It's just something to help you get by.
On my way into work today, I listened to an episode of Radio Lab about Deception. The last segment in the show related to self-deception, and a study run by psychiatrists Harold Sackeim and Ruben Gur.
Sackeim and Gur devised a questionnaire for people asking them all kinds of uncomfortable questions that they considered to be just about universal truths. If you indicated 'no' to their questions, they believed that you were deceiving yourself.
Subsequent studies using this questionnaire have found that the people who rate high on the self-deception scale generally do better in life. They are happier and more successful. In one study, two researchers from Colgate University applied these questions to members of the school's swim team, and found that those who were better at self-deception won more often. Those who are LESS self-deceptive, who are more realistic, more in tune with their own weaknesses and just how shitty things are? They're more depressed than others.
The conclusion? The ability to deceive yourself is a gift. It's just something to help you get by.