Reply Thu 13 Nov, 2008 10:44 am
What does anyone think about overthinking?
I get told I overthink.... but whislt thinking about the possibility I overthink I came up with this:

To say someone OVERthinks puts the amount they think in a negative light. It suggests they are making things more complicated than needs be. HOWEVER what I would like to present here is that that isn't necessarilly the case- if all understanding is a form of condensing what we see around us and processing it into a kind of conclusion, then thinking something complex isn't neccessarilly distorting something which should be basic. The basic thought is taken as the given when it is ALSO a distortion.
Is this acceptable to anyone?


 
Bi-Polar Bear
 
  4  
Reply Thu 13 Nov, 2008 10:49 am
@The Pentacle Queen,
I think you're overthinking it...
Blickers
 
  2  
Reply Thu 13 Nov, 2008 10:50 am
@The Pentacle Queen,
There comes a point where considering all the possibilites and ramifications can paralyze you and prevent effective action.

Yes, there are many examples of people who did not think things through and suffered for it. But if we keep considering all possiblilites in all ways we might not accomplish anything at all.
Ragman
 
  3  
Reply Thu 13 Nov, 2008 11:10 am
@The Pentacle Queen,
What comes to (my) mind is the expression "paralysis by analysis". I do this sort of dynamic too, at times. It can become a self-fulfilling prophecy...because at some point you need to decide and then act and stop analyzing - or just decide whatever is going on be put aside. No one should be telling how you think is wrong. However, some may advise you to move on so you can be more productive or pro-active. As a younger person, I was sensitive to criticism, too.

Some philosphising about life is essential. At other times, it can get in the way of accomplishing the tasks at hand.
0 Replies
 
chai2
 
  1  
Reply Thu 13 Nov, 2008 11:58 am
@The Pentacle Queen,
I like riding bikes.
Bi-Polar Bear
 
  1  
Reply Thu 13 Nov, 2008 12:52 pm
@chai2,
I want to ride my bike across america before I die. seriously.
chai2
 
  1  
Reply Thu 13 Nov, 2008 01:00 pm
@Bi-Polar Bear,
well, that's something for me to think about.
0 Replies
 
RexRed
 
  1  
Reply Thu 13 Nov, 2008 01:33 pm
@The Pentacle Queen,
Most people under think and the only way to rationalize their insecurity is to insult someone who has done their homework.
chai2
 
  1  
Reply Thu 13 Nov, 2008 01:58 pm
@RexRed,
This cuts me to the quick Rex.


Or, perhaps some of us, think, understand and come to conclusions faster without making a big ta-do about it.

The Pentacle Queen
 
  1  
Reply Thu 13 Nov, 2008 03:11 pm
@chai2,
Yeah, I wasn't thinking so much about making decisions, although I am pretty crappy at those. It was more along the lines of thinking about the world culturally and metaphysically.
It makes me happy.
chai2
 
  2  
Reply Thu 13 Nov, 2008 03:20 pm
@The Pentacle Queen,
I didn't say make decisions, I said come to conclusions.

Think about that.

****, I think about cultural and metaphysical stuff all the time.

I just don't use the word metaphysical, although I know the definition.


I am a simple chai, I've found few things that can't be squashed down to some easier to digest form.

It's an art I tell you.
0 Replies
 
Foxfyre
 
  1  
Reply Thu 13 Nov, 2008 04:05 pm
@The Pentacle Queen,
The Pentacle Queen wrote:

Yeah, I wasn't thinking so much about making decisions, although I am pretty crappy at those. It was more along the lines of thinking about the world culturally and metaphysically.
It makes me happy.


If it makes you happy, then you should not allow anybody to intimidate you into not doing it. To engage in mental exercise to completely dissect, explore, consider and contemplate ideas, concepts, and questions in our universe can indeed be satisfying. It can also look like anal gazing to the more mentally lazy and they might cover their own inadequacies by insulting you. Perhaps by accusing you of 'overthinking'. Smile

Trust me. The problem isn't you.
0 Replies
 
talk72000
 
  1  
Reply Sat 15 Nov, 2008 03:52 am
@The Pentacle Queen,
One must check with reality so that the thinking is realistic and practical. The physical world places certain limits to what is thinkable and what is unthinkable. You may say suppose think about nuclear war. You think how wonderful a weapon it is to destroy the enemy. But without scientific knowledge it is just fairy tale kind of thinking. One has to think about radiation and radioactive waste, and the dangers of handling equipment processing nuclear material. If handled in a careless manner you are more danger to your self than the enemy. Reality also helps you to think in a way to help you to survive in the world. Knowing the real limits and probability helps you to understand things better and appreciate the world better. Understanding the limits helps you also try to work around or overcome the limits. It also doesn't limit you in terms of fantasy and wishful thinking.
existential potential
 
  1  
Reply Sun 16 Nov, 2008 05:00 pm
@talk72000,
I think a big factor in this is HOW one thinks, not HOW MUCH one thinks. One has to think about how one thinks, and they must have the ability to know when their thoughts are not actually taking them anywhere, other than to a state of non-action. Maybe, one should try to create an equal level of thought and action, so that one does fall into neither paralysing thought nor mindless action.
talk72000
 
  1  
Reply Wed 19 Nov, 2008 11:51 pm
@existential potential,
I think she is expressing the fluidity of thought which if not given restriction and limits could be meaningless if all 0ptions and avenues of thought are equal and endless. In the real world there are different levels of fluidity even solidity of substance, restrictions and limits. For instance in music there are only so many notes and not countless notes. We can hear only certain frequencies thus so many many notes. There are only twenty six letters in the Alphabeth but we can construct endless number of words to create a novel or a thesis. There is structure in the real world and one should understand the structure and underlying reason for it. It is like Leibnitz Monadism which is a system of pure speculation and endless mental constructs. It is almost useless. It is for this reason that philosophy lost its leading role to science in matters of manufacturing, business and even politics.
0 Replies
 
Debra Law
 
  1  
Reply Thu 20 Nov, 2008 01:14 am
Interesting topic. Found this article in Psychology Today:

Trapped in Reflection

Quote:
...Over the past decade, Nolen-Hoeksema, professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, has found that women are far more inclined to ruminate about the stressors and disappointments they encounter"and get stuck there. They focus on symptoms of distress and the possible causes and consequences of them, repetitively and passively.

They go over and over their negative thoughts and feelings, examining them, questioning them, kneading them like dough. And like dough, their problems swell in size....



0 Replies
 
cjhsa
 
  0  
Reply Thu 20 Nov, 2008 07:08 am
http://www.irs.gov/taxpros/article/0,,id=98137,00.html
0 Replies
 
OGIONIK
 
  1  
Reply Thu 20 Nov, 2008 07:11 am
@Blickers,
i get paralyzed sometimes.

problems can be hideously tough.
shunammite
 
  1  
Reply Fri 21 Nov, 2008 09:17 pm
@OGIONIK,
Some "pop" lyrics came to mind (Tool):

Lateralus
Black then white are all i see in my infancy.
red and yellow then came to be, reaching out to me.
lets me see.
as below, so above and beyond, I imagine
drawn beyond the lines of reason.
Push the envelope. Watch it bend.
Over thinking, over analyzing separates the body from the mind.
Withering my intuition, missing opportunities and I must
Feed my will to feel my moment drawing way outside the lines.

Black then white are all i see in my infancy.
red and yellow then came to be, reaching out to me.
lets me see there is so much more and
beckons me to look thru to these infinite possibilities.
as below, so above and beyond, I imagine
drawn outside the lines of reason.
Push the envelope. Watch it bend.

over thinking, over analyzing separates the body from the mind.
Withering my intuition leaving opportunities behind.
Feed my will to feel this moment urging me to cross the line.
Reaching out to embrace the random.
Reaching out to embrace whatever may come.

I embrace my desire to
I embrace my desire to
feel the rhythm, to feel connected enough to step aside and weep like a widow
to feel inspired to fathom the power, to witness the beauty,
to bathe in the fountain,
to swing on the spiral
to swing on the spiral
to swing on the spiral of our divinity and still be a human.

With my feet upon the ground I move myeslf between the sounds and open wide to suck it in.
I feel it move across my skin.
I'm reaching up and reaching out. I'm reaching for the random or what ever will bewilder me.
what ever will bewilder me.
And following our will and wind we may just go where no one's been.
We'll ride the spiral to the end and may just go where no one's been.
Spiral out. Keep going.
Spiral out. Keep going.
Spiral out. Keep going.
Spiral out. Keep going.
Spiral out. Keep going.
The Pentacle Queen
 
  2  
Reply Sat 22 Nov, 2008 12:11 pm
@shunammite,
Hmm, with the gender distinction there are you talking about social 'problems' or philosophical ones. I think it can be a tendency in some people to over complicated social problems by taking them out of context, adding a subjective spin and generally churning them until they are much bigger than needs be......

I was more talking about philosophical problems, and that is where I disagree with your lyrics, shunammite-

It presumes that by over thinking we are making problems more complicated than needs be, that our basic presumptions about the world are intrinsic and 'just the way things are.' But basic understanding is just as much a form of delusion as any more 'complex' forms of thought. A basic thought is still a distortion of our sense experience.
 

Related Topics

How can we be sure? - Discussion by Raishu-tensho
Proof of nonexistence of free will - Discussion by litewave
Destroy My Belief System, Please! - Discussion by Thomas
Star Wars in Philosophy. - Discussion by Logicus
Existence of Everything. - Discussion by Logicus
Is it better to be feared or loved? - Discussion by Black King
Paradigm shifts - Question by Cyracuz
 
  1. Forums
  2. » Overthinking.
Copyright © 2024 MadLab, LLC :: Terms of Service :: Privacy Policy :: Page generated in 0.15 seconds on 12/08/2024 at 03:20:06