Introduction
The author is concerned with self-deception because it is not only common and widespread, but he feels it to be "responsible for the vast majority of human tragedies."
Self-deception leads people to do things that cause damage, or fail to do things that would have prevented it. We deny the truth and the facts before us, and act on a perception that we have purposefully distorted. Naturally, the results of this are seldom good. Thus considered, freeing ourselves of self-deception is a necessary step to be more successful and happier in life.
Where it is not damaging, it is at least very wasteful and counterproductive: a person who spends a thousand dollars on a garment believes that it is in fact better than an identical one that sells for fifty. They tell themselves that it really is "better" in some rational way, failing to recognize that what they really want is to feel superior to others, and to be admired. But anyone who notices their garment and to whom they mention the price (which such a person is likely to do) recognizes that the buyer is foolish and desperate to impress others - and instead of admiring them, considers them to be stupid, pathetic, and disgusting for having wasted so much money.
He warns that this book may be difficult to read, both intellectually and emotionally. Everyone to some degree deceives themselves and clings to the comfort of their imaginary world and imaginary self, and desperately wants things to be as they imagine.
The book is constructed of 38 chapters, largely grouped by their function: mostly, though not exclusively, corresponding to "ego defenses" as defined by Freud and others, whether proactive or reactive.
- Abstraction (1-9) - The attempt to ignore the cause of anxiety, pretending things are not such as they are.
- Distortion (10-15) - Recognizing the cause of anxiety but attempting to change its nature
- Evasion through Fantasy (16-23) - Distracting oneself from the cause of anxiety by focusing on imagination
- Evasion through People (24-33) - Distracting oneself from the cause of anxiety through social relationships
- Projection (34-38) - Externalizing anxiety to something outside of oneself and dealing with it (or not) in that form