Smart people talk to themselves all day long. I always know what I say to myself, and what comes back. I have a very lively conversation within myself.

A lot of people, like most Buddhists and scientists, are not good at separating the internal conversation from thoughts. Some people think meditation helps. If you focus on your breath, the only thing you do is silence your inner conversation. You don’t say anything to yourself. Less comes back, so it’s more silent, and you get “pure” attention. There is no point in doing that, except seeing how it works. But it’s not that you return to the here and now—you are always in the here and now. That’s the whole point.

Seeing it as a conversation with yourself is way better, because that means you can be 100% honest with yourself. What are you telling yourself all day long? Nice things?