{"id":136809,"date":"2024-11-22T13:32:22","date_gmt":"2024-11-22T17:32:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=136809"},"modified":"2024-12-03T18:02:00","modified_gmt":"2024-12-03T22:02:00","slug":"self-justification","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/self-justification\/","title":{"rendered":"How Self-Justification Harms Your Self-Perception &#038; Growth"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Why do we create false explanations for our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/thoughts-feelings-and-behaviors\/\">feelings and behaviors<\/a>? What makes us cling to these made-up reasons even when they don&#8217;t serve us well?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In <em>You Are Not So Smart<\/em>, David McRaney explores the fascinating phenomenon of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-self-justification\/\">self-justification<\/a> and its impact on our daily lives. He reveals how we unconsciously fabricate explanations for everything, from our food preferences to our mood swings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Keep reading to discover why these <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mental-shortcuts\/\">mental shortcuts<\/a> might hold you back from authentic self-discovery and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-grow-as-a-person\/\">personal growth<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-self-justification\">Self-Justification<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>According to McRaney, we commonly make up reasons to justify our actions, thoughts, and feelings. This self-justification can be seen in psychological phenomena such as <em>confabulation<\/em>, where we\u2019re ignorant of the fact we\u2019re misremembering. For example, you might believe you don\u2019t like ice cream because you have a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/fake-memories\/\">false memory<\/a> of it making you feel sick when you were a kid. It\u2019s also common with <em>introspection<\/em>, the illusion that we have insight into the origins of our thoughts, feelings, and actions. For example, you might think you feel irritable today because your favorite shirt wasn\u2019t clean this morning, but the truth is that you just woke up in a bad mood.<em>&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In these examples, neither explanation is the definite root cause of its respective outcome, but you choose to believe it is to justify aspects of your reality (your food preferences and foul mood).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Shortform note: Similar to our tendency to make up evidence, <a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/invisible-illness\/cognitive-dissonance-why-we-always-justify-our-decisions-610e8095c725\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">our urge to self-justify is also likely caused by cognitive<em> <\/em>dissonance<\/a>\u2014but for a different reason. Cognitive dissonance causes us to alter our perceptions to match our beliefs. However, it can also cause us to alter our <em>beliefs<\/em> to justify our experiences. We want to feel as though our actions, thoughts, and feelings are based on logic or evidence; however, this isn\u2019t always the case. This contradiction makes us uncomfortable; therefore, we create or alter beliefs so that our reality makes sense. For example, you don\u2019t know why you don&#8217;t like ice cream or have a foul mood, so you make up a reason for these realities to be valid.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While self-justification doesn\u2019t seem harmful, McRaney explains that <strong>it&#8217;s detrimental to your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/self-image-psychology\/\">self-perception<\/a> and growth<\/strong>. When you\u2019re constantly making up mostly false justifications for your characteristics, preferences, feelings, and so on, you create a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/false-narratives\/\">false narrative<\/a> of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/your-genius\/\">who you are<\/a> and become detached from your true identity. Further, you may close yourself off to opportunities for growth and self-development. For example, you tell yourself you&#8217;re irritable because your favorite shirt wasn\u2019t clean, so you use this as an excuse to continue your bad attitude rather than trying to cheer up. Or, you tell yourself you hate ice cream because you hated it as a kid\u2014but maybe you would enjoy it if you tried it today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Shortform note: We tend to engage in self-justification <a href=\"https:\/\/sweetinstitute.com\/in-pursuit-of-self-justification-the-psychology-behind-defending-our-actions-and-beliefs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">when we experience cognitive dissonance<\/a>\u2014a mismatch between our beliefs and actions. Just as McRaney does, experts note that cognitive dissonance can hinder growth; however, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.psychologytoday.com\/intl\/basics\/cognitive-dissonance#:~:text=Not%20necessarily.,person%20they%20want%20to%20be.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">recognizing your cognitive dissonance can also <em>spark<\/em> growth<\/a>. To grow from cognitive dissonance, experts recommend <a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/invisible-illness\/cognitive-dissonance-why-we-always-justify-our-decisions-610e8095c725#:~:text=Options%20for%20Alleviating,more%20restricted%20life.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">changing either your beliefs or your actions<\/a>. For example, instead of continuing to tell yourself you\u2019re open and experimental, admit that you can sometimes be stubborn when you don\u2019t want to try new things (such as ice cream). Or, if you still want to believe you\u2019re an open-minded person, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-push-yourself\/\">push yourself<\/a> to try the things you\u2019re resistant to.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Why do we create false explanations for our feelings and behaviors? What makes us cling to these made-up reasons even when they don&#8217;t serve us well? In You Are Not So Smart, David McRaney explores the fascinating phenomenon of self-justification and its impact on our daily lives. He reveals how we unconsciously fabricate explanations for everything, from our food preferences to our mood swings. Keep reading to discover why these mental shortcuts might hold you back from authentic self-discovery and personal growth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":136815,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,43],"tags":[1681],"class_list":["post-136809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-psychology","category-self-improvement","tag-you-are-not-so-smart","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How Self-Justification Harms Your Self-Perception &amp; Growth - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We unconsciously fabricate explanations for all kinds of things. Learn why the mental shortcut of self-justification may be holding you back.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/self-justification\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Self-Justification Harms Your Self-Perception &amp; Growth\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We unconsciously fabricate explanations for all kinds of things. Learn why the mental shortcut of self-justification may be holding you back.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/self-justification\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-11-22T17:32:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-12-03T22:02:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/serious-man-looking-at-himself-in-a-mirror.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1344\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Elizabeth Whitworth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Elizabeth Whitworth\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/self-justification\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/self-justification\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Elizabeth Whitworth\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d2928cf6c11a69ced1491d6a5b74fb13\"},\"headline\":\"How Self-Justification Harms Your Self-Perception &#038; Growth\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-11-22T17:32:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-12-03T22:02:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/self-justification\/\"},\"wordCount\":594,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/self-justification\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/serious-man-looking-at-himself-in-a-mirror.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"You Are Not So Smart\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Psychology\",\"Self-Improvement\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/self-justification\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/self-justification\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/self-justification\/\",\"name\":\"How Self-Justification Harms Your Self-Perception & Growth - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/self-justification\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/self-justification\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/serious-man-looking-at-himself-in-a-mirror.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-11-22T17:32:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-12-03T22:02:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"We unconsciously fabricate explanations for all kinds of things. Learn why the mental shortcut of self-justification may be holding you back.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/self-justification\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/self-justification\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/self-justification\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/serious-man-looking-at-himself-in-a-mirror.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/serious-man-looking-at-himself-in-a-mirror.jpg\",\"width\":1344,\"height\":768,\"caption\":\"A confident and serious young man looking at himself in an oval mirror with a wood frame illustrates self-justification\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/self-justification\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How Self-Justification Harms Your Self-Perception &#038; Growth\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"description\":\"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":74,\"caption\":\"Shortform Books\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d2928cf6c11a69ced1491d6a5b74fb13\",\"name\":\"Elizabeth Whitworth\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1fff9d65a52ac4340660218e7b63ee5e365cf08e7aa7adff79a0142cd4b96f84?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1fff9d65a52ac4340660218e7b63ee5e365cf08e7aa7adff79a0142cd4b96f84?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Elizabeth Whitworth\"},\"description\":\"Elizabeth has a lifelong love of books. She devours nonfiction, especially in the areas of history, theology, and philosophy. A switch to audiobooks has kindled her enjoyment of well-narrated fiction, particularly Victorian and early 20th-century works. She appreciates idea-driven books\u2014and a classic murder mystery now and then. Elizabeth has a Substack and is writing a book about what the Bible says about death and hell.\",\"sameAs\":[\"rina@shortform.com\"],\"award\":[\"Contributions to joint task force efforts (FBI)\",\"Contributions to Special Operations Division (DOJ & DEA)\",\"Efforts to fight the war on drugs (NSA)\",\"Contributions to Operation Storm Front (US Customs Service)\"],\"knowsAbout\":[\"History\",\"Theology\",\"Government\"],\"jobTitle\":\"Senior SEO Writer\",\"worksFor\":\"Shortform\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/elizabeth\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How Self-Justification Harms Your Self-Perception & Growth - Shortform Books","description":"We unconsciously fabricate explanations for all kinds of things. Learn why the mental shortcut of self-justification may be holding you back.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/self-justification\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How Self-Justification Harms Your Self-Perception & Growth","og_description":"We unconsciously fabricate explanations for all kinds of things. Learn why the mental shortcut of self-justification may be holding you back.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/self-justification\/","og_site_name":"Shortform Books","article_published_time":"2024-11-22T17:32:22+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-12-03T22:02:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1344,"height":768,"url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/serious-man-looking-at-himself-in-a-mirror.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Elizabeth Whitworth","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Elizabeth Whitworth","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/self-justification\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/self-justification\/"},"author":{"name":"Elizabeth Whitworth","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d2928cf6c11a69ced1491d6a5b74fb13"},"headline":"How Self-Justification Harms Your Self-Perception &#038; Growth","datePublished":"2024-11-22T17:32:22+00:00","dateModified":"2024-12-03T22:02:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/self-justification\/"},"wordCount":594,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/self-justification\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/serious-man-looking-at-himself-in-a-mirror.jpg","keywords":["You Are Not So Smart"],"articleSection":["Psychology","Self-Improvement"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/self-justification\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/self-justification\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/self-justification\/","name":"How Self-Justification Harms Your Self-Perception & Growth - Shortform Books","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/self-justification\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/self-justification\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/serious-man-looking-at-himself-in-a-mirror.jpg","datePublished":"2024-11-22T17:32:22+00:00","dateModified":"2024-12-03T22:02:00+00:00","description":"We unconsciously fabricate explanations for all kinds of things. Learn why the mental shortcut of self-justification may be holding you back.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/self-justification\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/self-justification\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/self-justification\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/serious-man-looking-at-himself-in-a-mirror.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/serious-man-looking-at-himself-in-a-mirror.jpg","width":1344,"height":768,"caption":"A confident and serious young man looking at himself in an oval mirror with a wood frame illustrates self-justification"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/self-justification\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How Self-Justification Harms Your Self-Perception &#038; Growth"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","name":"Shortform Books","description":"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Shortform Books","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","width":500,"height":74,"caption":"Shortform Books"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d2928cf6c11a69ced1491d6a5b74fb13","name":"Elizabeth Whitworth","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1fff9d65a52ac4340660218e7b63ee5e365cf08e7aa7adff79a0142cd4b96f84?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1fff9d65a52ac4340660218e7b63ee5e365cf08e7aa7adff79a0142cd4b96f84?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Elizabeth Whitworth"},"description":"Elizabeth has a lifelong love of books. She devours nonfiction, especially in the areas of history, theology, and philosophy. A switch to audiobooks has kindled her enjoyment of well-narrated fiction, particularly Victorian and early 20th-century works. She appreciates idea-driven books\u2014and a classic murder mystery now and then. Elizabeth has a Substack and is writing a book about what the Bible says about death and hell.","sameAs":["rina@shortform.com"],"award":["Contributions to joint task force efforts (FBI)","Contributions to Special Operations Division (DOJ & DEA)","Efforts to fight the war on drugs (NSA)","Contributions to Operation Storm Front (US Customs Service)"],"knowsAbout":["History","Theology","Government"],"jobTitle":"Senior SEO Writer","worksFor":"Shortform","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/elizabeth\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/serious-man-looking-at-himself-in-a-mirror.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136809"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136809\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":136998,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136809\/revisions\/136998"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136815"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}