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> That's cute and all, it's just not how human psychology works. There are endless examples of this, from the pettiest thieves to the biggest mass murderers.

This argument fails on both moral and statistical grounds: most people are not petty thieves or mass murderers nor should we accept that "getting away with it" is an acceptable basis for human behavior.

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I'm making a prediction on what's likely to happen based on well-researched human psychology. Again, the keyword is "cognitive dissonance". It encompasses all aspects of human life, the petty theft is just an example.

The moral dimension to this is entirely besides the point, the fact that you even bring it up tells me you are probably "suffering" from what is called a "Moralistic Fallacy".

I'm not making a moral argument or judgment here, but there's certainly the related question of whether someone who believes their own lies is truly a liar.

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