Southern Poverty Law Center President Richard Cohen to step down

[Igel]

9. "Want to believe"

is really the same as "easily deceived about".

As soon as I want to believe something, the first thing I do is turn my attention to all the details of the thing I want to believe.

The things I don't want to believe I'll pull to pieces to show that I'm right in not wanting to believe them. I'm already opposed to them, and need serious convincing.

But if I want to believe something, it's a warning to myself that it's an area where I'm already very gullible and that constitutes warning to myself to avoid providing not inconsiderable aid to others as they possibly deceive me.

It always pisses me off when I realize that years ago I didn't check something that I wanted to believe at the time. My first response is to be mad at the "other guy" for tricking me, but then I "check my stupidity" to see if I assisted the person. If I helped, it's hard to blame the other person since I'm complicit in my own self-deception and presumably bear a greater responsibility for my own well-being than the other person.