[extropy-chat] Delusions of Hypocrisy

Hal Finney hal at finney.org
Sat Nov 6 17:10:34 UTC 2004


Al Brooks writes:
> Mike, i like your posts because you are direct, unfortunately directness
> does not mean lack of hypocrisy, if it did we would not be human, we'd
> be something much more virtuous. Now, keep in mind there is a difference
> between an intellectually dishonest person and a hypocritical person. The
> latter is universal; the former is less prevalent. Stating "I'm NOT a
> hypocrite" is tantamount to saying, "I have never done anything wrong
> in my life". Mike, however integrated you are, you are still human;
> if we are human, we are hypocritical.  This discussion makes me feel
> like I'm back in Sunday School, 1964.

A hypocrite is someone who professes beliefs and values that he does not
actually hold.  So I don't know where you get the idea that claiming not
to be a hypocrite means claiming never to have done wrong.

I've been reading some articles on self-deception lately, though, and
one of them claimed that often what looks like hypocrisy from outside may
actually be self-deception.  In other words, the hypocrite conveniently
forgets or makes himself unaware of the fact that his actions don't
match his words.

Being a conscious hypocrite is uncomfortable and difficult for most
people.  It requires careful monitoring of one's words to make sure that
true feelings don't leak out accidentally.  This is stressful and requires
considerable concentration and effort.  Under those circumstances, it
is natural for the mind to adopt the least-effort solution, which is
to bury awareness of the incompatibility betweeen thought and action.
In fact, this article suggested that it would be rather unusual for a
hypocrite *not* to become self-deceived as a result of long-term practice
of his hypocrisy.

We generally condemn hypocrisy while being more forgiving of self-
deception.  We laugh when we read that 90% of people surveyed think
they are above average at something; but we become angry when we learn
that uber-moralist Bill Bennett has a gambling addiction.  Yet it's
possible that Bennett's moralizing was utterly sincere, and that he
managed to forget or ignore his secret gambling problem when he talked
about the importance of righteous behavior.  Even in an extreme case,
like a religious leader who solicits money for charity but spends it
on his own expensive cars and clothes, he may have in his own mind a
convoluted justification for how these expenditures are appropriate and
will somehow help others in the long run.

Self-deception is a mysterious and paradoxical phenomenon that is far
more widespread than we commonly realize.  This behavior pattern could go
a long way towards explaining the apparent near-universality of hypocrisy.

Hal



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