There is an entirely different dimension, where illusion and deception shape people's personalities and govern their lives, and that dimension exists here, every day of our own lives. . We all live only according to what we have in mind. Whether it's optimism bias, groupthink, or a fundamental attribution error, we all use basic psychological techniques to place ourselves on a pedestal and shift blame for our misfortunes on anyone other than ourselves, while attributing all success to our actions. This way we can make life bearable and avoid self-deprecating beliefs. We do all this without even realizing it. However, this form of thinking can be a slippery slope if you are not careful. The short story “Dr. The Heidegger Experiment” by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essayDr. Heidegger-induced deception leads everyone (except Heidegger himself of course) to passionately believe that he is something or someone that he is not. Through Heidegger's use of a placebo, the manifestation of each patient's idea of ​​his perfect, past self from the days of his youth is created, and each is deceived. This deception can be compared to something like a virus: once a person is infected, the delusions spread quickly from one person to another until none of them are healthy. 'spirit. All patients quickly come to believe that they will live in a fictional world where everything they desire has come true. Just as people do to a lesser extent every day, the four patients all delude themselves with selfish visions of grandeur. The very vain old Widow Wycherly slips into a self-centered lie, adhering to the idea that wrinkles can be cured by drinking a lot. of water. Skeptical at first "You might as well wonder if the wrinkled face of an old woman will one day be able to bloom again." (Hawthorn 3). Wycherley immediately overcomes these doubts in the same way as everyone else, through his own irresistible desire for them to be true. She hopes the magic potion will work. Noticing the impossibility while wishing it were true causes a bit of self-induced cognitive dissonance, and refusing to employ any logical thinking in his wish to ignore the simple truth that transformation is impossible, instead decides to let it be deceived. After Wycherly downed the first drink, "...she got up and ran to the mirror, still dreading that the ugly face of an old woman would meet her gaze." » (5). Revealing on some level that she always knew the potion was fraudulent. (Wycherly) stood before the mirror, curtsying and simpering at her own image, and greeting her as the friend she loved. Wycherly's main source of joy comes from delighting in her own beauty, and now that it has faded, she resorts to lying to herself as if everything in the world is exactly as it was in her youth. Wycherly is the first to be unable to contain her desire for rediscovered youth. “Pray, favor me with another drink!” » (6). Lying to herself, she is eager to participate in letting herself be deceived, making her feel like she has regained her lost beauty to satisfy his esteem, no matter how impossible that may be. Having previously been too indulgent in life's more sinful pleasures, Colonel Killigrew openly states at first that he does not believe Dr. Heidegger's story even after witnessing the transformation of the rose, whilethat Mr. Gascoigne and Mr. Medbourne don't say much, at first almost afraid to hope that Heidegger's story is true. When you are strongly attached to something, you become serious, which means that the colonel and these gentlemen are deeply entrenched in lies without even realizing it, deception has become their reality. “Hmm. » said Colonel Killigrew, who did not believe a word of the doctor's story. (4). at first. The power of the mirage is demonstrated after the doctor warns them to be wary of the potion's effects, and everyone laughs at his thinly veiled prediction. Naturally, once the potion was consumed, in the revitalization of his restored youth, "Colonel Killigrew had all the while trolled a merry bottle song and clinked his glass in symphony with the chorus, while his eyes wandered towards the figure wife of Widow Wycherly. (5). While the former politician “(Mr. Gascoigne) had his mind turned to political subjects. Now he was spewing full-throated sentences about patriotism, national glory and the rights of the people; now he was muttering perilous things and other things, in a sly and doubtful whisper, so cautiously that even his own conscience could barely grasp the secret...again, he spoke with measured accents and a deeply deferential tone, like if a royal ear listened to its well-turned rules. (5). already returned to his corrupt ways. Former venture capitalist Mr. Medbourne is already back with a new project, despite losing everything before. Medbourne was involved in a calculation of dollars and cents, with which was strangely mixed a project of supplying ice to the East Indies, by harnessing a team of whales to the polar icebergs. (6). After Wycherley suggests a dance, a huge conflict over his affections ensues, their burning passions revealed unabated. “Inflamed to the point of madness by the coquetry of the young widow, who neither completely granted nor refused her favors, the three rivals began to exchange threatening glances. Still keeping the price fair, they violently locked each other's throats. (7). A deadly conflict was created from an apparition, only by what we see in the heads of the three gentlemen. The colonel's comments are not the only ones that are said “...not always measured by sober truth; " (5.) The reality reveals itself as "it is said that the great mirror reflected the figures of the three gray and withered old grandfathers, struggling ridiculously for the skinny ugliness of a shriveled grandmother. » (7). Dr. Heidegger plays with them, deceiving the three men and the Widow Wycherly, hoping to teach them a lesson: "Have you never heard of the Fountain of Youth?" (4). Dr. Heidegger clearly leads them down this path. His guests insist that he “give us more of this wonderful water!” » (5). By this time his patients are desperate, Dr. Heidegger has succeeded. He has now convinced the four guests that this magical water is the key to eternal youth, everyone is under the spell. From now on, everything only gets worse for the four guests. “It seems like it’s fading again.” (7). Soon, the potions' "effects" wane, revealing the pitfalls of such selfish and extreme bias. The doctor knew the flower was going to wither and showed it to his guests, causing them to despair and ending the hope of becoming young again. The four “venerable friends” (1). are introduced into a world of illusion and deception, where everyone is eager to give in to something false under the guise of something too good to be true. The experiment proved Heidegger's hypothesis, saying: "If the fountain gushed outside my door, I would not stoop to.