Anyone who has read Tolstoy will know that his characters are very intense. With a very well-crafted psychological characterization, they often show the most extreme human tendencies. However, the criminals in his novels always look for a justification for their most terrible acts or try to deny reality. It was what Charlie Munger referred to as the “Tolstoy Effect.”
What is the Tolstoy Effect?
The Tolstoy Effect indicates the inability to analyze a situation objectively due to a powerful egocentric bias. Therefore, it leads to the tendency to deny reality or justify actions or things that do not fit with one’s vision of the world in order to preserve that inflated or artificially elevated self-esteem.
The tendency to deny reality
One of the defense mechanisms preferred by Tolstoy’s characters was precisely denial. This occurs when we are faced with a fact, but we deliberately decide to ignore it. For example, we may be aware that there is a problem in the couple that needs to be addressed, but we ignore it by turning it into an elephant in the room.
Of course, in certain circumstances denial is a defense mechanism that helps us close our eyes to what is happening so that our unconscious can process the information. However, if it becomes the default strategy for dealing with life’s difficulties and the mistakes we make, it will result in increasing problems.
Denying reality will not make it go away. And neither will its consequences.
If we deny social problems, they will not magically disappear just because we wish them to. Denying differences will not mitigate them. And if we deny conflicts, they will not solve themselves. The most common thing is that these problems amplify and, in the end, their consequences hit us even harder.
Rationalize decisions
The Tolstoy effect also manifests itself through another defense mechanism: rationalization, which refers to the tendency to justify the decisions we make and our behaviors. In practice, to preserve the positive image we have of ourselves and to be able to continue thinking that everything is fine, we look for reasons that justify our blindness or motivated ignorance.
Phrases like “being silent is not lying” to cover up an omission with overtones of falsehood or “there are worse people” to excuse bad behavior are common attempts to preserve a fragile ego. Why do we do it?
In part, because we want to avoid cognitive dissonance, that state of emotional tension that occurs when we have two opposing facts in our minds, such as: “I am a tolerant person” and “I cannot tolerate those who do not think like me.” We want to prevent reality from breaking our convictions and the image we have formed, so we apply a filter to not see what makes us feel uncomfortable and would force us to reflect.
How to overcome the Tolstoy Effect?
The Tolstoy Effect can become a snowball rolling down a hill that sweeps away everything in its path. When we begin to deny reality because we don’t like it and invent justifications for facts that make us uncomfortable, we run the risk of not knowing when to stop. In fact, it is generally the world that forces us to look reality in the face.
Inventing reasons to justify the symptoms will not make the disease go away. Looking for reasons to support beliefs or values that do not support the onslaught of facts will not make them survive. On the contrary, it will lead us to behave in an increasingly maladaptive manner. It will cause us to adopt a psychotic mentality in which the person lives in their mind, losing contact with reality.
The best way to avoid reaching these extremes is:
- Embrace a changing image of ourselves, so that we do not feel the need to cling to an immutable “self.” It implies being aware that we have the right to change if circumstances change and to get rid of aspects that are no longer adaptive or with which we do not identify because, rather than helping us grow, they limit us.
- Question everything. Reality is an experience to be lived, in its entirety, with all its up and down. Staying open to what is happening with a curious attitude, without prejudging and trying to put aside our stereotypes will help us understand what is happening and respond accordingly.
At its core, the Tolstoy Effect is an expression of deep egocentrism, of a person or even a society that does not want to adapt to reality. At the same time, it is also a sign of fear and confusion. We deny the reality with which we do not feel comfortable, the one for which we do not have the coping tools.
However, we must remember that sometimes circumstances can make us restless and force us to rethink some things, but that is better than turning our back on them while we wait, with our fingers crossed, for them to change on their own.
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