Does it lead to action that accomplishes one’s goals? Then it has worked. Does it lead to action that fails to do that? Then it is become a snare and a delusion.
Personally, I prefer to see things as they are and may be, and act to bring about how I want them to be.
I agree, though I want to be able to have a good enough understanding of the gears such that I can determine whether something like “telling yourself you are awesome everyday” will have counterfactual better outcomes than not. I guess the studies seem to suggest the answer in this case is “yes” in as much as self-delusion negative externalities are captured by the metrics that the studies in the TED talk use. [ETA: and I feel like now I have nearly answered the question for myself, so thanks for the prompt!]
Does it lead to action that accomplishes one’s goals? Then it has worked. Does it lead to action that fails to do that? Then it is become a snare and a delusion.
Personally, I prefer to see things as they are and may be, and act to bring about how I want them to be.
I agree, though I want to be able to have a good enough understanding of the gears such that I can determine whether something like “telling yourself you are awesome everyday” will have counterfactual better outcomes than not. I guess the studies seem to suggest the answer in this case is “yes” in as much as self-delusion negative externalities are captured by the metrics that the studies in the TED talk use. [ETA: and I feel like now I have nearly answered the question for myself, so thanks for the prompt!]