There's an ancient philosophical adage that says, "Know Yourself".
Joseph Hallinan's Kidding Ourselves: The Hidden Power of Self-Deception explores all the ways in which that's so difficult.
What Hallinan advances seems, at first, to be counter-intuitive: Far from being a defeating defect, self-deception has its benefits. It even gives us the optimistic edge over dreary realists. So there's a great deal of power, according to Hallinan, in not knowing ourselves.
The power, according to the book, is found in our sense of control. Our health, success and even survival depend on maintaining that sense of control in our lives -- and bolstering the hope that comes from that powerful sense of control.
Hallinan goes on to develop his thesis will a review of study after study. Written in an accessible prose, Kidding Ourselves wants to say, riding the pop psychology wave of science -- as if science has all the right answers -- that we're that much better off by "kidding ourselves". So after all the scientific evidence is in, Halliman jumps to his advice: "Believe" (pp. 19-27).
Thing is, we can only take his advice consciously. And if the argument of the book is correct, only the subconscious delusions really help.
And therein in the paradox of this book.
If you want a review of the science behind self-deception, placebos and health, superstition, power and money in our culture, this is the book for you.
But the book does little else than bolster the notion that science can solve all the questions about psychology and morality. In that way, it fails. Miserably.
This is a good book for conversation starters over the dinner table. But I don't take its remedies (see pp. 203-210) seriously. Because it lacks its own scientific rigor in those same conclusions.
Which is to say, it's a fun book to read. But don't delude yourself into taking Kidding Ourselves seriously.
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I received this book from the Blogging for Books program in exchange for this review.