Humans rate their own ideas too highly. They hold on to them stubbornly. They defend them valiantly. They stand by them faithfully, even when powerful evidence is brought to bear against them. They do this because these ideas are “theirs” and not because these ideas are correct or even plausible.
But here’s the thing. Humans don’t admit that they do this. They act like they are just following the evidence. In this way, self-deception walks hand-in-hand with pride.
Jane Austen paints a humorous yet tragic picture of how pride and self-deception go together in the character of Elizabeth Bennett in her classic work, Pride and Prejudice. Her description of it contains powerful lessons that can help us think through how our own prejudices keep us from seeing the truth, all the while deceiving ourselves that this is not happening. Continue reading ““Oh! That abominable Mr. Darcy!””