Do you practice self-deception or are you self-aware and completely honest?

Perhaps you’re filing for bankruptcy but when a family member or friend asks how you’re doing, you say ‘everything’s great!’

Perhaps you’re in the middle of a divorce but are ashamed and want to hide it from everyone, because you see yourself as a failure, and think others will as well.

How honest with yourself and others are you about your personal situations, relationships, or emotions? Any thoughts are appreciated, and remember humans are susceptible, this is not an unusual thing.

Definition: Self-deception is a process of denying or rationalizing away the relevance, significance, or importance of opposing evidence and logical argument. Self-deception involves convincing oneself of a truth (or lack of truth) so that one does not reveal any self-knowledge of the deception.

This notion is based on the following logic: deception is a fundamental aspect of communication in nature, both between and within species. It has evolved so that one can have an advantage over another. From alarm calls to mimicry, animals use deception to further their survival. Those who are better able to perceive deception are more likely to survive. As a result, self-deception evolved to better mask deception from those who perceive it well, as Trivers puts it: “Hiding the truth from yourself to hide it more deeply from others.” -Wiki