Happy People Deceive Themselves.

Here's what's been on my mind all weekend.

I heard of this experiment conducted by two psychiatrists in the 1970s. They wanted to look into the idea of self-deception, so they created a questionnaire that would be so embarrassing that it would make people answer dishonestly. (The questions include, "Have you ever enjoyed a bowel movement?" "Have you ever questioned your sexual adequacy?" and "Have you ever thought about raping/being raped by somebody?")

They assumed that most people, if absolutely honest, would probably admit that they had experienced at least some of these thoughts, if not all. The people who answered "NO" to all of the questions, then, were thought to be lying to themselves. Let's call those people the "self-deceivers."

So they give this survey to tons of people in all walks of life: athletes, businesspeople, you name it. They find that the lying group, our "self-deceivers," do better at EVERYTHING. This group is found to be more successful, make more money, be better at sports, and -- here's the kicker -- to report the highest levels of happiness.

Did you all catch that? The people who lie to themselves on the survey are happier than the people who did not. Now I know we could get into a discussion of methodology, and whether all of the many assumptions the experimenters made to get these results are actually valid, but let's ignore that: what this experiment suggests is that in order to be successful in life one needs to be able to lie to oneself. (An audio clip of top swimmers preparing themselves for a big meet shows them repeating things like, "I am the best.") It takes a certain kind of focus to be able to hold onto these ambitious ideas while occasionally contradicting the facts in front of you (like, say you aren't actually the best swimmer...), but it is this focus that helps driven people succeed. Perhaps, also, it means that people who think they are happy are really just lying to themselves about it.

The contrary is that those people who strive to be more honest with themselves can't easily overlook the negatives in life, and are reportedly less happy on the whole. These people see that life has a lot of badness, that things aren't fair, that there is complication and poverty and ugliness, and since they can't shake those facts, they often become depressed. The "honest" group also fails to gloss over their own shortcomings; they recognize that they might not be the smartest, or the best, and know that they will never become the top ballerina or CEO or whatever. Maybe this honestly makes them stop trying to achieve those goals, so there is some complication in the cause/effect cycle here.

I'm relating this story because I would put myself squarely in the strive-for-self-honesty category. Under this little model, this has me doomed to unhappiness and less prestige, although perhaps a more realistic outlook on life. This is not necessarily a bad thing: French philosophers for years have been striving for The Truth even when seeking it means more complication, more nuance, less, well, fun.

So I'm opening the debate: what is more important ultimately, happiness or truth? (Or is that an unfair and silly distinction?) Would you rather (a) be a true success in life and never know it, or (b) be unsuccessful but think that you were truly great?