According to Ericcson, illusion can be best explained through a quote from Eric Hoffer; “We lie louder when we lie to ourselves.” (Ericson 80). In other words, Ericsson considers delusion as when a man believes what he wants to be the truth in order to find an excuse and justify his actions, which would otherwise be considered harmful to himself or others. Someone who is considered delusional, as many would call them, is someone who lives in a fantasy world and continually lies to themselves about who they really are. For example, Ericsson uses the example of an alcoholic who mistakenly deludes himself into believing that the problems happening in his life are a sufficient reason to start drinking rather than that his problems are the result of drinking. In these kinds of situations, Ericsson would probably agree with Lutz that the illusion should be considered unjustifiable. As in white lies, Lutz describes the illusion as a kind of euphemism. Both involve lying, whether to oneself in delusion or to someone else in euphemism, in order to avoid "a harsh and unpleasant reality" (Lutz 82). However, the difference between Ericsson's view and Lutz's is that, just like in white lies, Ericsson believes that while delusion can often be harmful and have many negative effects on someone's life, it can also imagine a situation in which the illusion can be beneficial and therefore justifiable. Ericsson, for example, describes illusion as a survival tool that everyone uses on a daily basis. He goes on to say that if there were no illusions at all and everyone fully understood all the consequences of their actions, such as the buildup of nuclear weapons or global warming, they would not be able to "function on a day-to-day level", since thinking too much about the possible reality of these events can often be seen as having a “numbing” effect on the mind