From the author: Illusions are false ideas about ourselves, a distorted reality that we accept as truth. They prevent us from being objective and adequately perceiving what is happening. Many of us live in a world of delusion. We receive our first illusions in childhood from our parents and immediate environment. How do we create illusions? How to get rid of illusions? In the article you will find answers to these questions. A distorting mirror can serve as a metaphor for illusion. In the funhouse, distorting mirrors are used for entertainment. In an ordinary room, a distorted reflection can frighten rather than amuse. This is what it is, an illusion that can lead to unfortunate and sad consequences. Illusion is a distortion. If we judge reality by distorted reflections, then the conclusions will be far from the true state of affairs. Many people are well aware of the danger of illusion, and yet they are in its power. The illusions of a magician who releases doves from his sleeve and rabbits from his hat at a performance are quite harmless in comparison with the delusions of some spectators. The illusionist will perform the performance and put the props in a box. Many people have been distorting their reality for years. How many hearts have been broken because ordinary friendliness and politeness are taken as signs of special attention. How much effort and time was wasted in achieving false goals. For many, the truth has cost too much that not everything in this world turns out the way they want. Illusion destroys man’s most valuable resource - time. The man devoted his whole life to work. But now he is being sent to retire. His departure did not affect the company's activities in any way. Another person comes to work in the place of a pensioner. The team quickly got used to the new employee. They don't remember the pensioner. The person worked on weekends, stayed at work after the end of the working day, and considered himself irreplaceable. The epiphany came quite late. The man realized that the time he spent at work could be devoted to his children. If he had spent overtime walking in the park, he would have gained much more. Marketers often claim that they do not offer a product, but comfort and safety, coziness and joy. This appears to be a case of trading in illusions. One of the elements of a financial pyramid is illusion. Otherwise, why would people trust their money to businessmen with a dubious reputation, and their votes to populist politicians? How is it that illusion takes over our minds? The consciousness must have protective mechanisms. How does illusion manage to bypass them? And she has guides. Our parents open the gate for her. A child goes to play in the sandbox and suddenly discovers that other children are not going to share toys with him at his first request and do not accept him in the game. He complains to his mother or father. They convince him that he is the best child in the world. They don’t want their child to be upset, and they protect him as best they can. The refrain is that he is the most wonderful. At home, any movement or intention of a child is admired by adults. In kindergarten, a child finds out that he draws no better than everyone else. He learns that he is not the only one who can read the poem, that the best role in the children's play was not given to him. At school he is not good at mathematics, and his neighbor at his desk solves problems without making any special effort. Parents strive to support their child. They continue to convince him that he is the best in the world. During this period, the child's self-esteem is created. Parents probably want her to be adequate. And they do not intend to create illusions for the child. Every mother, when she tells her child that he is the best, is guided by love. But excessive care, reflected in the distorting mirror of illusion, instead of self-confidence leads to helplessness. In the initial period, children have the prevailing opinion that their parents are the smartest, kindest, strongest people. They can do everything: protect, help, solve, feed, calm, encourage. The child has an illusion of the power of his parents. This is quite natural for small people who do notenough life experience. The child has few skills. Not surprisingly, threading a needle seems like a major achievement to him. For a child, there is not much difference between working with a drill and launching a spaceship. Both the father renovating the house and the people creating the rocket equally seem like magicians to the child. Adults know how to set off fireworks and cook dinner. They earn money and buy toys and clothes. Parents are in no hurry to dissuade their children from this. And the point is not at all that they like to be omnipotent beings. They want the child not to experience anxiety or fear. Every parent strives to give their child security. Parents hope that the child will gradually give up illusions. In most cases this is what happens. Teachers also seem like special people to children. They know so much. The school works on their authority. There is a whole class under their control. Illusions tend to break. One day the child realizes that his parents are far from being as omnipotent as he imagined them to be. An area is discovered where parents cannot help. The teacher could not answer the question and acted unfairly towards the student. It becomes a discovery for the child that adults also make mistakes. Sometimes illusions become fixed in the child’s idea of ​​adults. In this case, there is a high probability that a person, having matured, will always blindly believe in the authority of people above him on the career ladder. He will believe that his superiors have the right to decide his fate. Another consequence of fixed illusions is uncriticism towards the actions and orders of other people. The omnipotence of adults is not the only test of illusions. Many teenagers have illusions ahead of them related to love, friendship, and career. Love is not always mutual. It happens that we believe that we can count on a person’s help, but he is not next to us in difficult times. Many are convinced that they will be successful and famous people, not thinking that success consists not of confidence and desire alone, but of many components: abilities, starting conditions, hard work, etc. Many have an ability for mathematics, drawing, and music. But instilling in yourself the idea that your career will develop on its own is unreasonable and dangerous. This is how illusions are generated. The results of many psychological experiments demonstrate the dependence of subjects on the opinions of other people. The essence of the tests is that the subject is first asked to independently evaluate some parameters. Then, when he has already formed his opinion about the issue, several people argue the opposite of the respondent’s belief. In most cases, the subject begins to doubt his answer options. Often he changes his mind and agrees with the majority. The stereotype that the majority cannot be wrong leads to the fact that a person, under the influence of this illusion, forgets about a particular case. To get rid of this obsession, you need to really assess your abilities, capabilities, and decide on your goals. Another series of experiments asks subjects to describe the same object or phenomenon independently of each other. Comparing the results, it is easy to notice that everyone sees this world in their own way. Our reality is not necessarily the same as that of our friends and loved ones. Illusions are an escape from reality. Having gotten rid of some illusions, we often create new ones. Some of us perceive reality too painfully. One of the conditions for achieving a goal is a correct assessment of the situation and possibilities. Illusions are the path to frustration. An incorrect assessment of the situation and possibilities leads to a mistake. Peers who are sober about reality create families and get busy. And the dreamer, who has created a fictional world for himself, is in happy inaction, convinced that happiness is about to arrive. He is afraid to give up illusions. They become a shield behind which it is convenient for him to hide. By wishful thinking, we get used to the idea that we already have what we want. It is very comfortable to be in this state..