I found this Radiolab story, concerning the evident utility of self-deception, really interesting. It tends to corroborate the great theme of the American playwright Eugene O'Neill, who held that, while a life of illusion is unpardonable, a life without it is unbearable.
Lying to ourselves: it's another way to describe the "self-talk" that "life coaches" recommend. But don't knock it. Being deluded about your own capacities will help you get ahead. Hell, look at the U.S. Congress.
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I almost wrote, "But don't knock it, because it works." You have to be careful, however, about making the meaining so dependent on punctuation marks. Whether or not "it" should be "knocked" in the above sentence hangs on a comma. It's the same principle as in:
(I) I didn't marry Jim because I wanted a comfortable life; and
(II) I didn't marry Jim, because I wanted a comfortable life.
The words are all the same, and in the same order, too. But on the important question of whether or not the speaker decided to marry Jim, (I) says she did, and (II) says she did not.
