Interesting talk from Michael Shermer on “The pattern behind self-deception” and explains the concept of “agenticity”.
http://www.ted.com/talks/michael_shermer_the_pattern_behind_self_deception.html
(although I think that the lipstick segment at the end wasn’t needed and is just a distraction to the main ideas in the talk)
Shermer goes on:
Agenticity – The tendency to infuse patterns with meaning, intention, and agency, often invisible beings & from the top down.
This can explain “souls, spirits, ghosts, gods, demons, angels, aliens, intelligent designers, government conspiracies, and all manner of invisible agents with power and intention are believed to haunt our world and control our lives”.
Shermer’s own blog skepticblog has a companion article also titled the same “The pattern behind self deception”.
Article by Kulvinder Singh Matharu – 2010