Self-fallacy, self-fallere (fallere = Latin for “to deceive”), aka self-deception, is a real problem for humanity. Rationalization, which is reasoning from a desired conclusion rather than reasoning from a solid premise, is called in the cognitive sciences emotionally motivated reasoning. Think of rationalization as the inversion of reason, where all inversion is “metaphorically “Satanic”, and it leads to Machiavellian thinking and behaviors, where the ends justify the means. Motivated reasoning is the mind pattern of the inverted left hand path of historic mysticism, known more recently as political leftism and Progressivism.
According to CT scans of the brain, motivated reasoning doesn’t actually light up the location within the brain that deals with reason, but the location that deals with punishment and rewards (Heaven and Hell, anyone?). So when a painful feeling is experienced due to a contradiction and feeling of cognitive dissonance, something that might be considered a punishment by the brain, rather than working through it to resolve it with reason, many people choose to instead come up with a rationalization. Rationalizations are sought to resolve the erroneous beliefs or behaviors that lie within the state of contradiction and dissonance through justifying them with “reasons” that sound plausible (rationalizations actually), and as a result, dopamine is released by the brain as a reward for having solved the puzzle and eliminating the state of contradiction/dissonance.
With this type of cognitive behavior, we’re quite literally conditioning ourselves to be addicted to the pattern of self-deception, which is why it is so difficult to break free from our delusional thinking and behaviors. We perceive that the payoff from breaking free from our delusions is less than the payoff we receive from deluding ourselves further, therefore we continue on with our self-deceiving thoughts and behaviors—in spite of evidence to the contrary.
I think when a person is dis-integrated, they will drop down into the rewards/punishment duality of heaven and hell, and this is where they can be manipulated much easier. Somebody who has transcended duality on an emotional level, through learning how to properly reason by working through their emotional upsets and becoming an integrated being, will be reasonable, will hold reasonable conversations, will do reasonable things, and won’t have a problem evaluating themselves when they’re called out on being unreasonable. This takes work, and this is precisely what the Unity Process helps people to achieve.
Sources for further study:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motivated_reasoning
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rationalization_(psychology)
THE UNITY PROCESS: We’ve created an integrative methodology called the Unity Process, which combines Natural Law, the Trivium Method, Socratic Questioning, Jungian shadow work, and Meridian Tapping—into an easy to use system that allows people to process their emotional upsets, work through trauma, correct poor thinking, discover meaning, set healthy boundaries, and refine their viewpoints. We practice it together in our groups, and in our individual sessions.
