{"id":109,"date":"2007-04-25T04:30:00","date_gmt":"2007-04-25T08:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/why-believe-the-simple-truth-when-lies-are-more-appealing\/"},"modified":"2013-08-14T08:39:58","modified_gmt":"2013-08-14T16:39:58","slug":"why-believe-the-simple-truth-when-lies-are-more-appealing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/why-believe-the-simple-truth-when-lies-are-more-appealing\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Believe the Simple Truth When Lies are more Appealing?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div><p>An SNL video has been circulating the interwebs called <a title=\"Don't Buy Stuff You Can't Afford\" href=\"http:\/\/consumerist.com\/consumer\/clips\/snl-skit-dont-buy-stuff-you-cant-afford-252491.php\">Don&#8217;t Buy Stuff You Can&#8217;t Afford<\/a>. The title basically says it all: an expert explains the most important rule of personal finance &#8212; spend less than you earn.<\/p>\n<p>The funny part is that the people listening to the pitch don&#8217;t want to believe it. They&#8217;re dying for the finance guru to tell them how to buy everything they want right now.<\/p>\n<p>The joke works because it reflects real behavior. A product can be an obvious scam, but people will rush to buy it because they <a title=\"Achieve Happiness by creating a Life Lie\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/achieve-happiness-by-creating-a-life-lie\/\">enjoy believing pleasant lies<\/a>. People pay for the pleasure of being deceived. For a brief period they can believe in an easy answer. The best part of the purchase is waiting for it to arrive, full of optimism and excitement.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>It doesn&#8217;t even matter if a lie is particularly convincing or not. As long as it&#8217;s appealing there will probably be people desperate enough to cling to it. Our own desire for easy solutions does more to sell a product than the salesman.<\/p>\n<p>To make good decisions it&#8217;s important to understand our natural tendency to deceive ourselves. Next time you get excited about something, step back for a second and try to identify the reason. Is it from genuine evidence, or the belief that you&#8217;ve finally found that missing puzzle piece that&#8217;s been holding you back?<\/p>\n<p>Easy answers are exciting because they remove the burden of responsibility. Great! I don&#8217;t need to worry about my problems anymore! All I have to do is wait for the solution to be delivered and follow instructions.<\/p>\n<p>If only life were that easy. Self deception inevitably feeds back into the cycle of disappointment, desperation, and delusion. We&#8217;re better off being brutally honest with ourselves.<\/p>\n<p>Action is what we&#8217;re really afraid of. It&#8217;s uncomfortable and risky. It takes time and it doesn&#8217;t always work. But <a title=\"Action is the key to success\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/inspirational-quote-3-by-pablo-picasso\/\">action is the foundational key to all success<\/a>. Instead of looking for flashy new answers, take the simple ones you already have (they&#8217;re probably the best) and start taking action.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An SNL video has been circulating the interwebs called Don&#8217;t Buy Stuff You Can&#8217;t Afford. The title basically says it all: an expert explains the most important rule of personal finance &#8212; spend less than you earn.<\/p>\n<p>The funny part is that the people listening to the pitch don&#8217;t want to believe it. They&#8217;re dying for the finance guru to tell them how to buy everything they want right now.<br \/>\n <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/why-believe-the-simple-truth-when-lies-are-more-appealing\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12163,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[17],"tags":[2295,2296,2294,2293,133],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Why Believe the Simple Truth When Lies are more Appealing? - Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A product can be an obvious scam, but people will rush to buy it because they enjoy believing pleasant lies. People pay for the pleasure of being deceived.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/why-believe-the-simple-truth-when-lies-are-more-appealing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Believe the Simple Truth When Lies are more Appealing? - Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A product can be an obvious scam, but people will rush to buy it because they enjoy believing pleasant lies. People pay for the pleasure of being deceived.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/why-believe-the-simple-truth-when-lies-are-more-appealing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2007-04-25T08:30:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-08-14T16:39:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/ptb-fb-profpic2-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Erin Falconer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/why-believe-the-simple-truth-when-lies-are-more-appealing\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/why-believe-the-simple-truth-when-lies-are-more-appealing\/\",\"name\":\"Why Believe the Simple Truth When Lies are more Appealing? - Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2007-04-25T08:30:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-08-14T16:39:58+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2da8ae162c097bdb749ab098472b4cc5\"},\"description\":\"A product can be an obvious scam, but people will rush to buy it because they enjoy believing pleasant lies. 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