Summary Here I discuss why people are so good at being hypocrites and being able to justify their own actions. It is evolutionary advantages to do so.

This post was inspired from an idea I read in “The Happiness Hypothesis” a great book with lots of insights into how to lead a fulfilling life. Most of our thinking isn’t logical but rather approximations we arrive at using rules of thumb. Heuristics work great but its great to know when they don’t and what adjustments need to be made. I’ll deal with a common misconception that helped me understand why we are dishonest not only to others but to ourselves.

The analogy is your body and the automatic process of your body are like an elephant and our conscious mind is the rider. By evolutionary logic the elephant came first. Humans eat, sleep and mate like all other animals. Our ability of language and consciousness evolved much later since they are a distinguishing feature of humans. Consciousness is strongly related to language, if we can name something we are conscious of it and things we can’t verbalize we are not conscious of generally. Think about when something is on the tip of your tongue, you are unable to pull it into your conscious mind and can’t verbalize the thought. This the most solid notion of consciousness I have heard yet. While there maybe a debate about the details hopefully we agree that consciousness has a strong relation to language and is the “newest” feature of our minds from an evolutionary stand point.

The next point is that our bodies run on largely unconscious process. We might be conscious of our desire of hunger for instance and be able to nudge the elephant away from food. However the elephant can override what we consciously want. Our consciousness has evolved as an attachment to an already sophisticated system and can not directly control what we are going to actually do. We have some control, but it is rather limited in practice. Consider how many New Years Resolutions are broken for example.

The next point is that language has evolved for a reason in people. That is people who had good command of language were able to gain a reproductive advantage over those who were not good at language. An advantage good language skills bring is the ability to manipulate information in your favor, not the faithful reproduction of information to other people. Since it is easier to be convincing if we genuinely believe what we are saying people have evolved hidden biases to justify their behavior, whatever it may be. People are biased to believe that they are in control of their actions, that they are right, and anyone who disagrees with them are wrong. When in reality they have very little control of their actions and act mainly subconsciously although if you ask them they will deny that fact. The rider thinks he is in control of the elephant but really he works for the elephant as its lawyer. The rider tries to paint the elephants actions in the best possible light no matter what they may be. The rider is so good at his job that he genuinely believes what he is saying and remains unaware of his biases in doing so. I loved this analogy and it has stuck around in my mind. It reminds me why people will always justify their actions and that there is a evolutionary reason for why this is the case. I feel it has helped me be more considerate of other people when I disagree with them. This insight helps me feel less stressed when trying to reason with unreasonable people.

This theory also has made me more aware of my own mental blind spots. Since I can’t force the elephant to do something it doesn’t want I have paid greater attention on routines and my automatic process. It is a common flaw that people think they can skip the gym one time because they don’t feel like it. This however ruins their fitness efforts. By giving their elephant precedent of not going to the gym it will be even harder the next time the temptation arises. If they lacked the will power when it was easier without a precedent of missing the gym they definitely lack the will power when there is a precedent, yet there is a bias to think otherwise. I find it easier going to the gym when its something I always do at a certain time and I don’t even consider it an option to skip. My elephant just goes along its path its used to with no input needed from the rider (me) this way.

This is just one idea presented in “The Happiness Hypothesis” there are many more ideas. This is one of the rare books I would recommend to everyone to read. Every one wants to lead happy fulfilling lives I assume and this book can help give guidance on how to do that.

Lessons Learned Do not look down on people for their rationalizations of their actions, remember that people are incredibly capable of being able to do one thing and do another. This is what they evolved to do. Also remember you are likely to over estimate your will power. Rely on forming good habits so you can lead the lifestyle you want easily.

The original post along with my other writing can be found on my blog: https://awesomedrifter.wordpress.com/