A New Look at Self-Deception
As a behavioral scientist, I have long been interested in self-deception. But I’ve never thought about it this way before, as pictured in a tremendous drawing by Jonathan Bartlett:

Oscar Wilde is one of the most quotable people in history of the English language. He even had ideas about robots, many decades before people had any idea what robots could achieve. And in typical Wildean fashion, he provocatively tied it together with his attitudes on the advantages of slavery: “Unless there are slaves to…
I came across an interesting quote in the New Yorker recently, reflecting on the US banking system. It reads: The power and the growth of power of our financial oligarchs comes from wielding the savings and credit capital of others. The fetters which bind the people are forged from the people’s own gold. Pretty timely thoughts,…
Powerful words from Thomas Paine, spoken September 11, 1777: “Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigues of supporting it.”
Widower Woodrow Wilson fell in love with Edith Galt in 1915. The President’s doorkeeper summarized the situation tersely: “She’s a looker; he’s a goner.” (Click here to view comments)
During a particularly miserable World War II battle, a military analyst estimated that it cost $25,000 in artillery shells for each enemy soldier killed. That caused one soldier to ask: “Why wouldn’t it be better to just offer the Germans $25,000 to surrender?” If only the world were so rational! (Click here to view comments)
Speaking of time of day, here is George C. Marshall opining on originality: “No one ever had an original idea after 3 o’clock in the afternoon.” A totally false statement, of course. But I don’t think that was his point!