Overthinking.

I think you're overthinking it...

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.

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.

I like riding bikes.

I want to ride my bike across america before I die. seriously.

well, that's something for me to think about.

Most people under think and the only way to rationalize their insecurity is to insult someone who has done their homework.

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.

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.

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.

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'.

Trust me. The problem isn't you.

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.

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.

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.

Interesting topic. Found this article in Psychology Today:

Trapped in Reflection

http://www.irs.gov/taxpros/article/0,,id=98137,00.html

i get paralyzed sometimes.

problems can be hideously tough.

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.

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.