"Fake it till you make it"

I wrote a rather impertinent piece a couple of weeks ago on this topic, which I subsequently deleted. Brittany, however, wanted to know my views. Here is my attempt to present a case against it more concisely. And I hope to hear her response (or anyone else's).

First of all, I would say that I'm not entirely against "fake it till you make it," depending on what the phrase means. If I "fake" being a saint by never sinning again and continuously performing heroic deeds and works of mercy, I wouldn't call that faking it. That's just making it. It would be helpful, then, first to articulate what we mean by "fake it till you make it."

The concept is basically that of a positive self-fulfilling prophecy. If I believe positive things about myself, even if they are untrue, I will act more positively, in accordance with those beliefs. Thus, if I pretend to be a confident person, I will act like a confident person, and thereby become a confident person. If I pretend to be a happy person, I will act like I'm happy, then I will feel happy. &c. This all seems like common sense, and it might seem difficult to argue against it. But first, is this characterization accurate?

Let me try to diagram it:

"Fake it till you make it":

lack of self-confidence → weakness/failure as the result of lack of self-confidence → self-deception (the "faking it") about weakness/failure → boost in self-confidence as a result of self-deception (faking) → overcoming of weakness/failure as a result of boost in self-confidence ("making it")

Again, is this an accurate characterization?

The Problem:

If I were to take issue with this, it would be with that most pesky moral principle for us pragmatic moderns: the principle that the end does not justify the means. The end, overcoming weakness and failure, is good. Unquestionably. The means, "faking it until you make it," seems to work, but there is something else to consider: is the means good?

The problem with the means is that it involves deception (faking; self-deception or deception of others). Can deception be excused if it accomplishes something positive? It would seem, based on the writings of the saints and spiritual guides, that it cannot. In fact, with almost unanimity, they list self-deception as one of the chief enemies of moral and spiritual growth. It would seem, then, apart from the fact that lying itself is intrinsically disordered, deception cannot bring about long-term good, no matter if we can make it useful in the short-term.

Fr. Scupoli, in The Spiritual Combat, specifically mentions self-confidence as an obstacle to spiritual growth. The purpose of our weaknesses and failures is actually to destroy our confidence in ourselves, since our illusion of self-confidence is the means by which we fall into them in the first place. Real personal, moral, spiritual growth does not come by deceiving ourselves into feeling more confident in our abilities, but rather in relinquishing all confidence in our abilities, and placing total confidence in God. Fr. Scupoli:

God permits us to fall only that we may gain a deeper insight into ourselves, that we may learn to despise ourselves as wretched creatures and to desire honestly to be disregarded by others. Without this we cannot hope to obtain distrust of self which is rooted in humility and the knowledge of our own weakness. Whoever seeks to approach the eternal truth and fountain of all light must know himself thoroughly.

Thus, our impulse to action and change, by which we overcome our weaknesses and failures, is not from self-deception or an optimistic illusion about what we are capable of, but from a real knowledge of Who God is and what He can do and wishes to do in us. Having confidence in God requires no deception, as He is perfect and trustworthy already. To have confidence in Him is simply to recognize the truth about Who He is.

My problem with "fake it till you make it," then, is not about whether it sometimes works, but whether it is good, or whether it is aimed at our ultimate good. Call me an optimist, but I believe truth is the answer.