Humans can be very inventive when it comes to avoiding the truth, especially when it is about themselves. This includes using mental coping devices in an attempt to cover for their own shortcomings and mental dysfunctions. Some of them are used simply to get by. Others are used as defense mechanisms to build up one's own self-esteem, often at the expense of others. Some coping mechanisms are used to avoid thinking about much of anything. Regardless of the reason, these false coping devices are aimed at avoiding reality and truth.
To this end, humans have invented false devices and strategies to avoid reality and also elevate themselves in their own view. Most such devices are designed to evade truth, transfer blame, switch the subject, distract from the issues, and escape from their own bad decisions. To accomplish this, most people use distraction, denial, displacement, and dissociation to cope with their mental maladies and perceived shortcomings. These range from relatively harmless to very harmful. But they are all attempts to overcome internal friction and pressure in the soul. It is not our purpose to define all of them, just to provide enough basic information to enable the discussion regarding what the Bible says about people who avoid and/or distort the truth by using false mental coping devices.
Distraction is one such mental coping device, which attempts to avoid issues by trying not to think about them. It engages in activities which occupy time and mental processes while avoiding the issues which require attention. Of course, enjoying some amount of distraction is useful and relaxing, but we are discussing endless distraction, which becomes Distractionism. So when someone does this to avoid being alone with their own thinking because their inner self is empty of useful thoughts, or full of negative thoughts, this endless Distractionism creates issues which can cascade into more harmful mental devices. We have discussed how Distractionism is being enabled by technology, allowing people to engage in it to levels never before possible. Technology has enabled the ability to pursue nearly endless distractions by texting, video games, music, and other technologies which can be taken anywhere, allowing a person to try to avoid thinking about the reality of their life. In their proper places such technologies are very useful and make us more productive, but when used purely for long term endless distraction from life itself they become a means of avoiding reality and thinking. Then when someone is finally required to face reality it can be daunting, so it may be treated as though it also was just a game, or just another form of distraction which has no ultimate purpose or meaning. Life becomes less meaningful when soul thinking is turned off by endless distractions. Time is simply passed by, not embraced and used wisely, therefore time becomes something to be avoided as if it were not a scarce commodity with a very certain end. The future seems irrelevant and just another thing which will need to be avoided when it arrives. And thinking about one's own death is the ultimate thought which must be avoided, usually by denial, or unrealistic expectations about the time remaining. In all of this, Distractionism is about avoiding reality, and wasting the time we have remaining. One must wonder how many people will avoid seeking God because they were able to avoid the realities of their life which should have driven them to look to Him for answers, including for salvation. That is the ultimate reality which must not be avoided. And by the way, there will be no distractions for unbelievers during eternity. Reality will be unavoidable.
Denial is another mental coping device which tries to pretend something did not happen, is not happening, or will not happen, and uses repression or suppression of thinking to avoid reality. This coping device shuts off the Mind from figuring out the reality of the situation. Ultimately, denial is lying to oneself, and seeks to avoid reality and truth by saying something is not real or true. Therefore the person in denial does not want to know the truth and seeks to avoid it by suppression of thinking. Children often practice denial because they have little or no control over what happens to them, so this can be a useful short term tool for them. When bad things happen, they deny it is real. This can be a means of getting through a situation until they have some level of control and can deal with the issues. But when adults use denial to avoid reality they are rejecting actual problem solving devices provided by God through His Word. The most disastrous form of denial is refusal to address the issue of one's eventual death. This results in the person denying that God exists, and/or denying that Jesus Christ is the only Savior. They suppress thinking about death and God as a means of coping. But using denial as a coping device to avoid the reality and truth about death, about God, and about His salvation offer to humans will lead to a miserable life after death. Once again we see how reality is not avoidable during eternity.
Dissociation can also be used as a mental coping device whereby the person shows disconnection with reality, purposed confusion of facts and memories, lack of interest or caring for others, and an overall detachment from reality. And displacement can be used to shift blame to others, engage in over-reaction, create polarization and compartmentalization of people, split hairs, allow for no gray areas in life, provide no room for others to make mistakes, use of faulty comparisons of people to self by looking down on them (dehumanizing people, checkout magazine life comparisons). There are other false mental coping devices and variations of those discussed above, but again, it is not our purpose to cover them in detail, but rather to set up the discussion of what the Bible says about the inner human as related to false mental coping devices which are used to try to avoid reality and truth.
But why would someone want to avoid truth and reality?
Good question. The answer starts with what we have already discussed about the inner workings of the soul. Normal soul function occurs when the Heart is in control of the entire soul, the Mind is properly performing its "figuring out" role and also controlling the Conscience and Memory, the Emotion is responding to the generally correct functions of the Heart and Mind, and the Sinful Nature is kept in check in a relative sense. Occasional sinning and performing actions which do not perfectly align with God's Will do not derail the soul. All humans are sinful, saved or unsaved. God does not seek to punish us every time we go astray, but wants us to turn to Him. God is a loving and merciful God. His Son took the punishment we deserved, therefore God can and does forgive His believers. We must not labor under a sense of guilt for our past sins, because they have been paid for and taken away. But we must seek to please God now and in the future, even though no one can do so perfectly. And controlling the Sinful Nature is important to having a healthy soul, which is the point here, because the Sinful Nature is the source of soul distortions.
When a person alters the way their soul is supposed to operate, the soul becomes distorted and various levels of instability set in. The soul ceases to function in a logical and stable manner because some portions of the soul exert undue influence. In fact, a revolt inside the soul occurs. And the primary offender as we have discussed is the Emotion in consort with the Sinful Nature. The Emotion cannot revolt against the authority of the Heart apart from the backing of the Sinful Nature. And this is where false coping devices come into play, as they are used to distort the soul's normal thought processes. Therefore the ultimate culprit is the Sinful Nature which causes soul distortions and most mental illnesses.
Over time the result of a soul out of control is obsessions and compulsions, inability to control unrealistic thoughts, beliefs changed to conform with Sinful Nature dictates, and generally a tormented soul. The soul becomes divided against itself. This is where the saying "he is of two minds" applies. It is usually a long slow slide into this level of soul distortion, and likewise it is a long process to get out. And the way out is to transform one's thinking to conform with the Biblical view of proper thoughts and beliefs.
Rejection of truth is not usually a matter of intelligence (IQ). Intelligent and highly educated people have the ability to believe untruths just as easily as anyone else, possibly more so when their soul is out of control under the influence of the Sinful Nature allied with the Emotion, which results in an arrogance of intellect for them. A person who is less educated may not know as many facts about the world around them, but they can accept the truth when properly presented if their soul is functioning under humility. The propensity for rejecting truth and therefore accepting untruths is primarily a matter of how the person's soul is functioning, not a matter of education or intellect. And humility, which is the opposite of arrogance, plays a key role in truth acceptance. But humility becomes less possible for someone controlled by the Sinful Nature/Emotion alliance, because arrogance is a primary result.
Truth can also be rejected for other reasons. Some people simply do not care about spiritual issues, so they ignore them. Ignoring is rejecting. This is a simpler form of rejection of the truth based on distraction due to a focus on the details of life. People focus on their job, family and other things and do not stop to think about their eternal future, or they think there is no eternal future to think about. Some have a simple form of relative righteousness, and think they are better than many other people they see around them so if there is a God He would favor them over those they see as morally inferior. Of course that is not true. It is why so many conversations in life attempt to compare oneself with others, putting down others to build oneself up in their own eyes, and in the eyes of others. In another vein, it is also why wealth is said to make salvation more difficult, since wealthy people think they have all they need without God so they may ignore spiritual issues. These rejections of truth are more a matter of lack of interest or caring, but the end result is the same.
The human spirit plays an important role in accepting Biblical truth. As 1 Corinthians 2:14 says: "The person without the spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness." And Romans 8:16 says: "The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children." For humans to interact with God they need a human spirit, otherwise God cannot interact with them, and they cannot understand God or His spiritual truth. And higher levels of spiritual truth require a human spirit filled with basic levels of spiritual truth. Truth is built on truth. Proverbs 1:7 says: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Humility, acceptance of God's authority, acceptance of the Bible as the divinely inspired Word of God, and an understanding of basic truths becomes the basis of understanding higher level truths. God is the author of logic and truth, and has given these as gifts to mankind. Rejection of truth in one's belief system is therefore rejection of God and His plan, and the only alternative is a belief system based on fallacies, falsehoods, and lies.