Comments on: SELF DELUSION http://www.oherandassociates.com/blog/uncategorized/self-delusion/ Thoughts from Jim Oher Mon, 08 Jun 2026 13:25:43 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: ian miller http://www.oherandassociates.com/blog/uncategorized/self-delusion/comment-page-1/#comment-23 ian miller Thu, 29 Jul 2010 03:29:07 +0000 http://www.thehardlines.net/?p=266#comment-23 Jim, The fly in the ointment of self-delusion is our span of attention! Psychologists have demonstrated that our human span of cognitive control is only 8 items at a time, +/- 3: what this means, over time, is the conditioning of very few spheres of attention that mean something to us, subjectively. The thing about comedy is that this limitation of attention is humorously demonstrated to us: that, I think, is also the power you describe in Lear: that awareness costs us something---- and that something is the anxiety of knowing, of disconfirming what we'd thought was so. Very few of us are willing to expand our horizons at the cost of feeling anxious: so we tack to the other side---- and attempt to shut down uncertainty with premature closure, which at least has the virtue of not shaking us up too much! To keep self-delusion at bay, we have to develop ways to tolerate the intolerable shakiness induced by not knowing! Let me know when you've nailed that one: I'll be your first angel investor! Jim,
The fly in the ointment of self-delusion is our span of attention!
Psychologists have demonstrated that our human span of cognitive control is only 8 items at a time, +/- 3: what this means, over time, is the conditioning of very few spheres of attention that mean something to us, subjectively.

The thing about comedy is that this limitation of attention is humorously demonstrated to us: that, I think, is also the power you describe in Lear: that awareness costs us something—- and that something is the anxiety of knowing, of disconfirming what we’d thought was so.

Very few of us are willing to expand our horizons at the cost of feeling anxious: so we tack to the other side—- and attempt to shut down uncertainty with premature closure, which at least has the virtue of not shaking us up too much!

To keep self-delusion at bay, we have to develop ways to tolerate the intolerable shakiness induced by not knowing!

Let me know when you’ve nailed that one: I’ll be your first angel investor!

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