#155: How to be delusional

Delusion is what happens when our reason bouncer fails as the gatekeeper to our beliefs—when our imagination is stronger than our judgment. It might be the most universal human quality. And it adds a whole other component to the environment portion of our behavior equation.

The great lie underneath it all is that once you collect enough mental models, you can skip the leap of faith. You can build a propositional bridge from your current self to your ideal self, and faithlessly slide across it. A seductive idea. But wrong and useless.

When we presume to lie for the benefit of others, we have decided that we are the best judges of how much they should understand about their own lives—about how they appear, their reputations, or their prospects in the world.