Book of Self-Deception

By Sam Brown

A dog dies having swallowed a pack of pills left lying around by the dog-minder. The dog-minder takes the position: "It was the dog's fault - it was his choice to eat the pills." A Nazi camp guard on trial for war crimes pleads: "I had no choice - I was just obeying orders." Worlds apart though these two scenarios are, a similar mental process is in play in both. Both involve an attempt to shift responsibility elsewhere; both employ self-deception to conjure a version of events where responsibility does lie elsewhere. The mental process is called 'rationalization'. This book attempts to demonstrate that rationalization plays a far-reaching role not only in human interaction, but in the behaviour of organizations, in ideology, culture and global events.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1807692337
• ISBN13: 9781807692339
• Release Date: October 2026
• Publisher: New Generation Publishing
• Length: 598 Pages
• Weight: 1.57 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 6.0" x 9.0"