The Science Behind Why We Believe Our Own Lies
Episode 146: The Science Behind Why We Believe Our Own Lies
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Click HERE to LISTEN to Episode 146
In this week’s episode, I discuss the psychology behind why we create and believe false truths to get us out of life situations.
Disclaimer: I initially wanted to call this episode “Are You F’ing Serious?” or “Are You Shitting Me?” but ended up opting for the more professional science-based title.
Plus, I talk about the silly things my clients say when they start a new lifestyle journey.
“I’m afraid of eating too much protein.”
“I don’t want to get too many muscles.”
“I need to get in shape before I start working out.”
Why do people so easily believe false things?
There are probably as many answers to this question as there are people who have ever believed falsehoods. Nonetheless, psychologists have shown that a relatively small set of cognitive biases or mental shortcuts can explain a lot about how false notions take root. One of the most agreed-upon ideas in the field of psychology is that people routinely use mental shortcuts to understand what happens around them. All kinds of things occur in the world around us, and we don’t always have the time or energy to sit down and carefully examine all of them. So, we tend to use quick and largely unconscious rules-of-thumb to determine what we should believe—and these shortcuts sometimes steer us in the wrong direction.
Here are some of the culprits:
Emotional Reasoning: Whether we like it or not, all of us can be powerfully swayed by emotions. We’d like to think that our feelings are driven by logic and reason, particularly when it comes to our health. Unfortunately, this relationship is often reversed. Sometimes we end up using our reasoning ability to justify or defend a conclusion that we’ve already drawn based on our emotions. This phenomenon, called emotional reasoning, can lead us astray without our ever knowing.
Confirmation Bias: Once we have a belief, we tend to cling to it, even when it’s untrue. Confirmation bias is the tendency to seek out information that supports what we already believe.
And if you’re just interested, well, then don’t waste your time or the time of all those that you recruit to support you on your journey.
Listen, Like, and Share so that we can all begin to heal and get back to the Thriving awesomeness of the life we desire to live.
❤️ ~ Jay
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