The bulk of the vexations dealt with so far have been about fears of not getting into our roles or experiences as deeply as we feel we should be. There is perhaps a more compelling problem at the other end of the scale: getting into them too deeply to get out.

Elster's Alchemies

Some faking, we have seen, openly acknowledges that you are trying to bootstrap yourself into a preferred disposition, set of beliefs, or character traits by acting as if you had it or them. Such is the case of Pascal's wager, which has acquired a classic dignity because the initial risk-averse bet to believe in God's existence is relieved of its actuarial small-mindedness by being a necessary first step to commit yourself to a serious regimen of observance. The habit of acting as if you believe ends, eventually, in belief.

Some faking has no goal other than for you to survive the moment with dignity intact and to let others preserve theirs; this is the case of routine politeness and tact. Even these scripted moments of faking can bend the mind to play it up all the way, so that instead of faking sorrow at your guests' departure you actually end up feeling a twinge of melancholy when they depart; or, as noted earlier, if you give what you think is lip service to a position you are too cowardly to oppose, you end up coming to believe the position.