Selfie: How We Became So Self-Obsessed and What It's Doing to Us

by Will Storr

‘When we set out to explain our actions, they are all post-hoc explanations using post-hoc observations with no access to nonconscious processing,’ writes Gazzaniga. Any inconvenient facts that don’t fit with the interpreter’s story are ignored or suppressed. ‘That “you” that you’re so proud of is a story woven together by your interpreter module to account for as much of your behaviour as it can incorporate, and it denies and rationalizes the rest.’ All this means that ‘listening to people’s explanations for their actions is interesting but often a waste of time.’