Positive self deception or Optimism
Came across a research paper published in 1998 on human psychology. Key point : Positive self deception is a normal and advantageous part of most people's psyche. Also included in the research paper were the following points - People lie to themselves about 3 things: They view themselves in implausibly positive ways. They think they have far more control than they actually do. They believe the future will be better than what the evidence of present justifies. Does this mean that optimism is actually a form of self-deception? If yes, then is the same valid for pessimism. Let's look at this from a different vantage point. People lie to themselves about 3 things: They view themselves in implausibly negative ways. They think they have far more control than they actually do. But hardly act upon their belief. This lack of action is the cause of their negative attitude & eventually failure. They believe the future will be worse than what the evidence o