Introspection: Is Your Mind Deceiving You?
Every now and then, I find myself speaking at length with my inner being—‘Did I do the right thing? I could have done this or that; the dots could have been connected in this peculiar way.’ The situation mentioned resonates with everyone out there. The conversation that goes on within, termed as introspection, is generally defined as examining one’s mental state, reflecting on a variety of thoughts. Now whether this is simply squandering of precious time or a necessary exercise to be performed from time to time depends on how one perceives it. Going through the annals of history, the innumerable discoveries and inventions were conceived when their respective inventors were lost deep in thought. This self-imposed seclusion, in turn, gave mankind some of its greatest achievements. The discovery of Benzene, in Friedrich August Kekulé’s own words, was, “the forming of atoms into a snake-like structure, the process continuing until the snake ultimately bit its own tail”. This v