How the mind keeps busy avoiding reality

Below is a quote from the free email newsletter that New Scientist magazine makes available to the interested.The quote illustrates a particular strategy of ordinary human mentation; this strategy must have some value though as yet what value that could be is not clear to me. Perhaps it is the repeat a silly argument if that argument was ever believed in the past ploy. The parting line politicians use that they want to spend more time with their family falls in this camp. Never mind the guy/gal was just indicted for bribes, never mind their kids have already left for college. Never mind that the wife is furious their summer vacation will not be spent in Greece now. For some reason they can trot out the old argument that they have to leave their office to spend more time with their family and their audience does not break out in laughter.

Along these lines is this blurb for an article that does not need to be read for anyone to know the conclusions. Yet an academic magazine is publishing this article. The topic is about the effectiveness of makeup. It is my assertion that everyone knows that make up only makes young people look younger. The blurb ends that we deserve some evidence make up works. Oh sure, and we will learn from our mistakes.(That's what those stock brokers say.) Something else is going on, not what is being said. Yet this kind of blurb is repeated ad hilariousnessness, and it is all part of a dream. Part of a dream. And the proof that this research is silly, is that---if the makeup worked, you would need NO article investigating the claim. Everybody would use the product and look younger. Maybe research about HOW, it works, but not IF makeup works. So here is the blurb.

What lies beneath the makeup?
We spend a fortune on cosmetics that promise to keep our skin youthful, so surely we deserve some evidence that they work, says Richard Welle