At high levels, it is associated with poor mental health. In practice, that means willfully disregarding key knowledge to arrive at a conclusion that is more convenient than what the facts appear to suggest.Įveryone self-deceives, but that doesn’t make it harmless. When you are both the liar and one lied to, this means you have to both know the truth and not know the truth. After all, lying involves telling someone something you know to be untrue. Or, “I love my job who cares that I complain about it constantly?” Or even-ironically-“I am always honest with myself.”ĭeceiving yourself shouldn’t make logical sense.

“I’ll enjoy this sleeve of Oreos today because my diet starts tomorrow,” I might tell myself. And yet, we are perfectly content to lie to ourselves all the time. Liars are considered untrustworthy at best and immoral at worst. Click here to listen to his new podcast series on all things happiness, How to Build a Happy Life. “ How to Build a Life ” is a weekly column by Arthur Brooks, tackling questions of meaning and happiness.

Brooks lied about cancer