In this troubled autumn, wherever we are in the world, I have the feeling that many people lie to themselves about who they are and what the world around them is like, so that they can refuse to see the dangers; so that they can let themselves be lulled into a gentle languor; so that they don’t act.
More generally, for millennia now, many humans have been lying to themselves, when they believe that the catastrophes foretold cannot happen; and when they refuse to accept that, in certain circumstances, they are violating their own moral rules.
Lying to ourselves is a deadly poison. It sets you up for bad decisions. Or, to put it another way, not to. In fact, history teaches us that nothing leads more surely to catastrophe than inaction resulting from a refusal to face the truth: that personal and collective disasters could have been avoided, millennia, centuries, decades, years ago, if lucidity, critical thinking and courage had been given their rightful place.
Today, there are still too many people around the world who want to believe that climate change doesn’t exist, or that it will take care of itself; that humanity will be able to protect biodiversity; that it will succeed in feeding itself healthily, treating itself and teaching everyone the knowledge of reason; that science will find an answer to every threat, every disease, every pain; or that religion, drugs or distraction will provide the answer. Too many people also refuse to take concrete, modest action in their daily lives against the causes of these disturbances, by modifying their lifestyles.
More specifically, people in the countries of the South are lying to themselves when they claim that racism, slavery and colonialism are Western inventions, that all their problems can be explained by the proven plundering of their natural wealth by Westerners; when they want to believe and make people believe that they are rejecting a Western model, whose shortcomings they have in fact, for many, adopted.
Americans also lie to themselves when they refuse to admit that they are gangrened by drugs, violence and junk food; that no one speaks with envy of an “American dream” any more; that China has become the world’s leading military and industrial power; and that everyone rejects their hegemony, in whatever form it may take.
Many Europeans are also lying to themselves, when they think that the United States is still their protector and will defend them; that trade agreements with them are balanced; that the Trump administration will be content with this and will not demand the dismantling of EU digital and environmental regulations…; other Europeans, or the same ones, are also lying to themselves when they want to believe that Russia will never attack a European Union country; or when they proclaim that the presence of radical Islam can be tolerated without harm; and that religious law, whatever it may be, can be allowed to take precedence over democratic rule.
More specifically, many French people are lying to themselves when they think that their country is rich enough to be safe from bankruptcy; that the IMF or the European Commission will never dare meddle in their affairs and impose an austerity program; that the privileges of others can be called into question, without touching their own; that work is just one of life’s ancillary activities; that the wealthiest pensioners can keep their privileges in a country on the brink of bankruptcy; that a tax on the capital of the very rich alone would be enough to solve the tragic drift of public finances; that sidelining the elites who have been in power since the early days of the Fifth Republic will provide an answer to all the problems of the moment.
More generally, technology is driving more and more people to invent a parallel reality, to live as all-powerful, all-knowing mythomaniacs surrounded by virtual admirers. In particular, nothing encourages us to lie to ourselves more than the perverted use of Artificial Intelligence. And this is undoubtedly one of the reasons for its incredible success: it reinforces our worst weaknesses, giving us the means to multiply them and deny the need to make any effort to obtain knowledge or produce a service.
What’s more, it’s time for a bit of personal introspection, wherever we are in the world: each and every one of us often lies to ourselves, choosing not to see what could make our lives more difficult to tolerate: intimate betrayals, professional humiliations, personal cowardice. Each of us should assume, when it’s consistent with our reality, that in certain circumstances we have been, or are, cowardly, dishonest, selfish, mean-spirited, petty, a liar, a backbiter, a braggart, a mythomaniac, contemptuous, or disloyal.
As we head back to school, if there’s a first good resolution to make, it’s this one. It’s only by putting words to our ills that we’ll succeed in overcoming them.
Image: Gérard Garouste, Pinocchio and the dice game, 2017