Truth Hurts. So We Lie.

8th Layer Insights

Ok. This one's pretty uncomfortable. It's about the lies we tell ourselves and why we believe them.

We all like to think we’re rational. But the truth is, our minds are masters of defense... not just against deception, but against discomfort.

In this issue, I explore the mental machinery behind "motivated reasoning" and "cognitive dissonance." These are mechanisms we use to try to protect ourselves from inconvenient facts.

• 🔍 Why we reject information that threatens identity
• 🛡️ How our beliefs start defending themselves
• 🎭 Why feeling right often beats being right

This theme hits at the core of the Deceptive Minds mission: a newsletter about how we are fooled, how we fool ourselves, and what we can do about it.

Want to check out the print version? You can ⁠⁠get here as a LinkedIn newslette⁠r⁠. Or you can subscribe to the email version on my website: ⁠⁠https://TheDeceptionProject.com⁠⁠

Anything you'd like me to cover in a future edition?

Stay sharp,

— Perry

hello [at] 8thLayerMedia [dot] com

Other references for this issue:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_flat_Earth_beliefs
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repressed_memory
• https://www.cdc.gov/tuskegee/about/index.html
• Jessica Barker's newsletter: Human Nature of Cyber Security: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7312575416190255104/
• Jessica Barker's LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-barker/
• The FAIK FILES Audio version here: https://thecyberwire.com/podcasts/the-faik-files/38/notes
• FAIK FILES YouTube version: https://youtu.be/Sy67tVZ_OVk
• Apple's controversial research paper: https://ml-site.cdn-apple.com/papers/the-illusion-of-thinking.pdf
• Nate Jones' thoughts on the Apple paper: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9tYAvjkOQk

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