The Mythomanias: The Nature of Deception and Self-deception

Environmental Change in South-East Asia brings together scholars, journalists, consultants and NGO activists to explore the interaction of people, politics and ecology. Ostensibly "green" activities - plantation forestry, eco-tourism, hydro-electricity - are revealed as guises used by elites to promote their own political and economic interests. Highlighting fatal flaws in presently exclusive economic and ecological approaches, the authors stress that neither the quest for sustainable development nor the process of environmental change itself can be understood without reference to political processes.

Table of Contents:
Contents: I. Maltzman, Foreword. M.S. Myslobodsky, Living Behind a Facade: Notes on the Agenda. J. Agassi, Self-Deception: A View From the Rationalist Perspective. A.G. Greenwald, Self-Knowledge and Self-Deception: Further Consideration. D. Zakay, J. Bentwich, The Tricks and Traps of Perceptual Illusions. Y. Trope, B. Gervey, N. Liberman, Wishful Thinking From a Pragmatic Hypothesis-Testing Perspective. M.K. Johnson, Identifying the Origin of Mental Experience. M. Ross, T.K. MacDonald, How Can We Be Sure? Using Truth Criteria to Validate Memories. A. Rechtshaffen, The Single-Mindedness and Isolation of Dreams. H. Ben-Zur, S. Breznitz, Denial, Anxiety, and Information Processing. L.A. Wells, Imposture Syndromes: A Clinical View. I. Nachson, Neuropsychology of Self-Deception: The Case of Prosopagnosia. L. Hicks, M.S. Myslobodsky, Mnemopoesis: Memories That Wish Themselves to Be Recalled? M. Devor, Phantom Limb Phenomena and Their Neural Mechanism. M.S. Myslobodsky, Awareness Salvaged by Cunning: Rehabilitation by Deception in Audiovisual Neglect.

About the Author :
Michael S. Myslobodsky

Review :
"A creative and erudite neuropsychologist, Michael Myslobodsky has edited a fascinating and often provocative book on deception. The Mythomanias covers the full range of deception, from bizarre neuropsychiatric syndromes, such as Munschausen's, to ordinary and extra-ordinary acts of self-deception, as in recovery of false memories, to deception on a large, social scale. The contributors to the volume, all recognized in their field, are as intellectually diverse as the topics they cover, which often makes for adventurous and enchanting reading. At the same time, the collection retains a strong, thematic coherence and a scholarly rigor in keeping with the reputation of its editor and contributors. The volume succeeds admirably as a comprehensive and stimulating guide (perhaps the only one) to the role of deception in the organization of memory, self and society and the clues it provides about their nature. I recommend it highly." —Morris Moscovitch Erindale College, University of Toronto, and Rotman Research Institute of Baycre "The Mythomanias provides a fascinating smorgasbord of denials, misrememberings, impostors, false memory syndromes, phantom limbs, illusions, confabulations--indeed, all aspects of deception. It nicely ties together disparate research threads from psychology, psychiatry, and neurology so that readers can see the antecedents that underlie all deception. This book should be of interest to anyone who has ever deceived oneself or another." —E. Fuller Torrey, M.D. Author of "Surviving Schizophrenia" National Institute of Mental Health, Neur