Appearances can be deceiving. John Wayne, for instance, acted the part of a genuine cowboy in dozens of motion pictures and fired make-believe rifles and revolvers hundreds of times. Even his last starring role in The Shootist had him portray an aging western gunslinger. Yet, here is what Wayne had to say about his skills with a firearm: "I couldn't hit a wall with a six-gun, but I can twirl one. It looks good!"

Appearances can be deceiving. Still, we often trust what we see more than what we read or hear. That is one of the reasons why television is so captivating. "Seeing is believing," we say.

Sometimes appearances can even change the way we think about things, and "deceive" us into a whole new attitude. Consider, for example, the report of Dr. Maxwell Maltz, a former New York cosmeti…