>I think that Marx's point concerning the role of ideology
>is that certain false theories (like neoclassical economics)
>help the bourgeosie stay in power because they help to
>obscure the reality of exploitation in the eyes of the non-bourgeois
>strata. That still leaves open the question of whether the
>bourgeosie themselves really benefit from their being
>deceived by their own ideologies. That is do the bourgeoisie
>really benefit, if they are able to deceive themselves concerning
>the reality of exploitation, the existence of class divisions &
>antagonisms
>etc.? On the one hand such self-deception may well be necessary
>from a psychological point of view, if people are to benefit from
>exploitation in good conscience. On the other hand, such self-deception
>may well blind them to the development of class antagonims, and
>hence to threats to their own power.
New Scientist 22.12.01
"It's a wonderful lie"
"How does self-deception work its magic? For a start, duping yourself makes you a better liar. If you can trick yourself into believing something that isn't true, you must be convincing, says Robert Trivers of Rutgers University, in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He thinks that the same evolutionary forces that make straightforward deception a useful ability may also select for self-decepiton.
Trivers even goes so far as to suggest that the conscious mind is largely just a 'social front, maintained to decieve others'. Truth, he argues, is stored in the unconscious, while the conscious is full of fabrication. That way, when you spin your yarn, all the telltale signs of deciet will be absent: no sweaty palms, no fidgeting, no shifty eyes.
Self-deception is also useful in self-promotion, according to Trivers. If you can convince yourself that you're better than your opponents, you have a better chance of carrying off the bluff. Conversely, being conscious of your deficiencies - that you're clumsy, not the brightest bulb, or that your fly is down - can be a handicap in competitive situations, Trivers says. Better to believe you're the best, even if it's not true.
Trivers sees self-deception at its most nefarious, but others have suggested that it is actually a socially desirable skill. We are a social species, and we form cooperative alliances. But that's easier said than done. Ususally, making a group work means suppressing at least some of the interests of its members, and that may be easier if individuals can hoodwink themselves."
- all individual psychology - but not immune to a class application, considering the powerful reciprocal reinforcements that must go on, for materialist reasons, in the maintenance of a class
Chris Burford
London