Abstract of Self-Deception - the Epitome of Irrationality?

In this talk we'll examine three major misconceptions about self-deception (SD)

     1. SD is a unified concept, with an underlying logical structure involving or implying a contradiction.
     2. All instances of SD can be traced to emotive sources.
     3. SD is an irrational activity, and thus should be avoided.

We propose an explanatory model that illuminates the cognitive-adaptive determinants of SD, such as human dispositions, information processing constraints, major cognitive principles, and the heuristics we employ to meet our goals. We ll debunk the above dogmas by pointing to the multiple facets and sources of SD, and by investigating the occasional rationality of one of the most puzzling types of SD:  belief perseverance (the persistence of explicitly discredited beliefs), a phenomenon often used as the ultimate evidence of the feebleness of the human mind.