Lying To Oneself

An interesting topic we talked about in class was that we sometimes can “lie to oneself” according to Jean- Paul Sartre. This I think is very true when it comes to human’s ability to cope with certain situations. They do this to make themselves feel better about either themselves or what they have done. For example, someone who over indulges in things such as drugs or food may begin to lie to themselves to make it seem like they aren’t over eating or over using drugs. They make excuses for why they do the things they do to make what they are doing seem okay in their mind. This also is the case when people try to help those who are overweight get to a healthier size by exercising and eating right. They begin to lie to themselves making it seem like they are not overweight even when it is clear to those around them. I also see elder people who are sick in denial when it comes to their health. Many times they know they are sick but for some reason, they have a hard time accepting it so they lie to themselves to try to convince themselves that there is nothing wrong. Also, someone who commits a crime and feels guilty about it later may try to rationalize why they did what they did by lying to themselves about the situation. Some of these lies include ways in which they try to justify why they committed the crime such as they deserved it because they killed my son or cheated with my husband. All these try of situations prove that humans can lie to themselves to either make their action seem justifiable or to make themselves feel better about something.