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A tiny warning in your gut is easy to dismiss—until it isn’t. We explore why bright, self-aware people overlook obvious red flags and how our brains, our chemistry, and our social world nudge us to rewrite reality in the name of connection. From the honeymoon haze to confirmation bias, the halo effect, and sunk cost, we trace the mechanics of self-deception that turn discomfort into a story we can tolerate.

We talk through the push and pull between belonging and self-preservation, and how cultural scripts can make endurance look like virtue. You’ll hear a clear breakdown of how cognitive dissonance drives rationalization, why fear of being alone can drown out intuition, and how the costs of denial compound into a loss of self-trust. Instead of blaming ourselves for missing “obvious” signs, we reframe red flags as neutral information—signals on the dashboard that deserve investigation without panic or shame.

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