Self-deception, adaptive preferences, and autonomy

Abstract

In Neville Shute’s (2010) novel On the Beach, set in Australia after World War III, one of the main characters, Commander Towers, buys his children gifts and imagines them getting older–even though he is American and knows that all human and animal life in the northern hemisphere is almost certainly extinct. As presented in the novel Towers’ actions were clearly the result of self-deception. This is not surprising, for many people deceive themselves in the face of death or serious illness; the phenomenon of patients who have been informed of their terminal illness failing to account for this in their plans is well known to healthcare professionals.