Commencing the thoughts by referring to Aristotle’s apposite line – “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” As we penetrate the history of this, It is evident that the practice of introspection is as ancient as human thinking. In Eastern Christianity, Nepsis, Greek for ‘sober introspection’, encourages people to observe conflicts between the heart and the mind. Pratikraman, Sanskrit for introspection, is practiced by Jains to learn from their mistakes and Hindus are encouraged to reflect on their true nature as part of Savdhyaya (Contemplation of self). Well, apart from these, in modern psychological sciences, introspection is known as “experimental self-observation”.
The ways through which one can practice introspection include:
Engaging in mindful activities designed to increase ‘Self-awareness’, Journaling thoughts and feelings, practicing meditation, and reflecting on a situation and how someone feels about it. In order to be introspective, we have to ask ourselves “why” we feel the way we do.
However, research indicates that “what” questions are more effective for improving introspection. For instance, instead of asking why we feel sad, we should ask what makes us feel sad.
This can help us to give more insights into ourselves internally. We have to be more mindful and have to expand our curiosity about our inner self, which can help us in better understand of our emotions. Last but not least in the list of ways to procure introspection, the most effective one will be spending time alone, doing nothing. If the world around us is always busy, it could be difficult to quiet our minds enough to explore its inner workings.
As we dive deep into the corresponding benefits of Introspection, we have to mention ‘improved problem-solving’ at very first. More elaborately, it can be used to break down the challenges we face so that we can better understand them. Reflecting on past experiences may help us to recall similar situations in which we either solved an issue or found our attempts fell short. It could be a handy tool to enhance mental health; when stress arises, feeling confident in practicing introspection will allow us to remain focused and avoid succumbing to a negative thought cycle.
By improving familiarity and knowledge of oneself, it will give a better understanding of one’s thoughts, feelings & values. Adequate and productive self-evaluation also offers us a greater ability to confront fears.
As we are discussing benefits, we can’t deny the ‘Bias’ as a result of introspection as a drawback.
People often give greater weight to introspection about themselves while judging others on their outward behavior. ‘Cognitive Bias’ is a good example of how people are often unaware of their own thoughts and biases. This bias can also influence what one observes. Putting it another way, observers engaged in introspection might be thinking or feeling things because of how they have been trained and influenced by experimenters.
The use of introspection as a tool for looking inward is an important part of self-awareness and is even used in psychotherapy as a way to help clients gain insight into their own feelings and behavior. While psychologist Wilhelm Wundt’s efforts contributed a great deal to the development and advancement of experimental psychology, researchers now recognize the numerous limitations and pitfalls of using introspection as an experimental technique.
Author – Madhurjya Pratim Sarmah
MA Defence and strategic studies
3rd semester, Central University of Gujarat
