# What do you lie to/deceive yourself about? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 5, 2016, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-lie-to-deceive-yourself-about/761856 "2016-08-05T17:41:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-lie-to-deceive-yourself-about/761856/21 "2016-08-06T03:42:06Z")
I kid myself that neighbors and some parents of children in school with mine are anywhere near as moral, or as ethical, or as prudent in their interactions with others as I am. I was taught to lead by example; sometimes it seems some of them were taught to cheat for any advantage at all costs. I can’t find a quote or a parable in literature or philosophy or texts on ethics that contains the phrase “what you can get away with”. Maybe it is in obscure Greek or Latin… ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-lie-to-deceive-yourself-about/761856/22 "2016-08-06T03:51:15Z")
I’m eating oatmeal for breakfast every morning, instead of a breakfast burrito. I need to lose 15 lbs. It’s not helping because now, after my oatmeal, I snack all morning on crap. Mostly the stuff I’m going to fix for lunch. Then I have lunch. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-lie-to-deceive-yourself-about/761856/23 "2016-08-06T06:32:49Z")
In spite of my diabetic neuropathy and spinal stenosis, I deceive myself into thinking that I’ll be able to walk and drive indefinitely. This is in spite of not being able to totally feel the floor under my feet, or the car pedals. And then there’s the possibility of amputations.:eek: There’s also my mind, or what’s left of it. ---
**Author:** ![grammarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c5a1d2/32.png) [@grammarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grammarian)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-lie-to-deceive-yourself-about/761856/24 "2016-08-06T08:49:39Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > That I can continue to backpack by myself around the world forever. I’m blind and 77 and I’m leaving next week for the Horn of Africa. I suppose some day I’ll say to myself “Maybe this was a bad idea”. say WHAT??? ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-lie-to-deceive-yourself-about/761856/25 "2016-08-06T10:36:52Z")
I’ve 4 1/2 years into sobriety. The lies I tell myself now are nothing compared to what I used to. ---
**Author:** ![Corry\_El](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@Corry\_El](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corry_El)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-lie-to-deceive-yourself-about/761856/26 "2016-08-06T15:02:38Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > That I’m not old. That one and related image of one’s physical self have to be the most common. 99% of the time looking from the inside out I’m the me of 30+yrs ago, maybe a little achy here and there, but stuff also hurt in the past when I worked or worked out too much, right? I don’t really think of myself most of the time as the guy actually in the mirror now. I’m not the kind who externalizes this into foolish behavior by and large, but there’s still a kind of disconnect. For more serious stuff, along the lines of whether I’m as good a person as I think, it’s more fuzzy. I might be a worse or better person than I tend to think, I really don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-lie-to-deceive-yourself-about/761856/27 "2016-08-06T15:58:52Z")
That someday someone will read something I’ve written and recognize my genius. It’s the only thing that keeps me writing. And sane. ---
**Author:** ![Properties\_of\_Iron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7cd45c/32.png) [@Properties\_of\_Iron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Properties_of_Iron)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-lie-to-deceive-yourself-about/761856/28 "2016-08-06T17:03:09Z")
That being able to drive wouldn’t have a significant positive impact on my quality of life. Every time I’ve attempted to learn, my anxiety has triggered near/actual panic attacks, which has obviously made it difficult to learn. So instead, I tell myself that it’s not something that I need ---
**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-lie-to-deceive-yourself-about/761856/29 "2016-08-06T17:37:45Z")
I tell myself if I just don’t go to the doctor nothing can be wrong. 56 years old and I cannot remember the last time i saw a doctor other than 10 years ago when i broke my arm. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-lie-to-deceive-yourself-about/761856/30 "2016-08-06T17:56:06Z")
I can’t think of anything, so the answer is probably that the lie I tell myself is that I don’t lie to myself about anything. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-lie-to-deceive-yourself-about/761856/31 "2016-08-06T18:40:39Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > That someday someone will read something I’ve written and recognize my genius. > > It’s the only thing that keeps me writing. And sane. OMG! That is the best, smartest, most wonderful thing I ever read! You’re a freaking GENUS! You’re welcome.😉 ---
**Author:** ![Esox\_Lucius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Esox\_Lucius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esox_Lucius)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-lie-to-deceive-yourself-about/761856/32 "2016-08-06T19:45:04Z")
Being a whole genus unto herself _is_ rather special.😉 ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-lie-to-deceive-yourself-about/761856/33 "2016-08-06T20:36:24Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > That someday someone will read something I’ve written and recognize my genius. > > It’s the only thing that keeps me writing. And sane. What genre/topic do you write in? ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-lie-to-deceive-yourself-about/761856/34 "2016-08-06T20:37:55Z")
That I’ll be debt-free soon. That I actually do stand a chance of becoming an airline pilot, and for a big carrier at that. That I’ll actually do my to-do list. That things will get better as time goes on. That I’ll finish writing my book (kind of stuck in limbo for years) ---
**Author:** ![mage-girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@mage-girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mage-girl)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2016, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-lie-to-deceive-yourself-about/761856/35 "2016-08-07T02:40:32Z")
> [@Marion\_Wormer](#): > > Sadly, I think I’m pretty, until someone takes a candid photo of me. It gets harder and harder to brush that off every year. ☹ I’m convinced that for some of us, the things that make us most attractive don’t show up in photos. I watch the way people respond to me, and how I make them laugh (with me, not at me :p), and I know that I’m attractive _in some sense_. But then I see that photo, and I’m like, that can’t be me… We could discourage casual photos by saying we’re in the Witness Protection Program, I suppose. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2016, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-lie-to-deceive-yourself-about/761856/36 "2016-08-07T16:12:01Z")
> [@ThisSpaceForRent](#): > > I tell myself if I just don’t go to the doctor nothing can be wrong. I feel _great_ because I have no idea how sick I am! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2016, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-lie-to-deceive-yourself-about/761856/37 "2016-08-07T17:12:45Z")
My doctor said my blood sugar levels are good, so before binging on sugar, I remind myself of that and tell myself the consequences of eating too much sugar aren’t bad. ---
**Author:** ![HeXen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@HeXen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeXen)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2016, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-lie-to-deceive-yourself-about/761856/38 "2016-08-07T18:07:59Z")
I typically convince myself of all the following or at least try to: \>That the screen door effect seen on the Vive does not really exist and it can/will replace my current monitor. \>That because my car is red, it’s more noticeable to non drivers and therefore I’m safer. \>That I actually care what others have to say. \>That if I hoard everything, something I have has to go up in value…eventually. \>That my GTX 970 graphics card has 4gb’s of Vram because it says so on box and not the 3.5 everyone claims. \>That my wife gives a damn what I have to say about anything. \>That spending a crap ton of money for a lot of products that I barely used and no longer use is an investment for a future “might need it someday”. \>That when a woman keeps glancing at me, it’s because she finds me attractive and not because she’s creeped out from catching a 40 yr old pervert staring at her. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2016, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-lie-to-deceive-yourself-about/761856/39 "2016-08-07T22:30:20Z")
Everyone is fundamentally decent and reasonable. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2016, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-lie-to-deceive-yourself-about/761856/40 "2016-08-08T02:26:06Z")
It’s like a fundamental part of my value system not to lie to myself about anything, so the lie is probably that I don’t lie to myself about anything. Trying to be honest with yourself is fucking demoralizing. Being aware of your real, deep flaws, and not the cute ones, being willing to face the part of yourself that nobody else who loves you really wants to see, to mitigate all of the possible damage to others before it can occur… that is hard. People tell me I’m too hard on myself but I’ve seen the result of consistent self-deception and it is ugly and hurtful. I’d rather just think I’m shit and try to overcompensate than think I’m great and be really wrong. If I do lie to myself, I honestly don’t know what it’s about. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-lie-to-deceive-yourself-about/761856.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-lie-to-deceive-yourself-about/761856.md?page=3)