Overthinking.

Thinkin'
Steve Forbert

Well, don't ya go thinkin' and thinkin' and thinkin'
And thinkin' so much til you're stranded behind
Don't ya go thinkin' and thinkin' and thinkin'
And thinkin' so much til you're losin' your mind

There's so many depressions all plowed in your brain
Trace 'em too far and they'll drive you insane
You're twisted so tight now, you hardly can talk
Get out in the daylight and go for a walk

And, don't ya go thinkin' and thinkin' and thinkin'
And thinkin' so much til you're stranded behind
Don't ya go thinkin' and thinkin' and thinkin'
And thinkin' so much til you're losin' your mind

All the tension inside has gone through to your face
You're flashin' your madness all over the place
You stand in the hallway an' try to explain
I look in your eyes, I see shackles an' chains,

(Harmonica solo)

You're chasin' some notion you've misunderstood
You're tryin' so hard, can't you tell it's no good?
You analyze everything into a "No"
You're fallin' apart, you got nothing to show

And, don't ya go thinkin' and thinkin' and thinkin'
And thinkin' so much til you're stranded behind
Don't ya go thinkin' and thinkin' and thinkin'
And thinkin' so much til you're losin' your mind

Pentacle queen wrote:
"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"

what do you mean by this, that there is no such thing as knowledge?

Life just is - everything else is just our interpretation of it.

Marriage, Morals, Laws, Committements, Goals, attachments etc...are creations of our own minds. When we 'overthink' things, are we not thinking about these creations of our own minds (or other peoples minds)?

We feel, and those feelings, while they exist, are generally based on our interpretation of occurrences in life, pitted against the creations of our own minds.

...often those creations of our own minds become more 'real' than the simple fact that life is, and more real than our own basic human nature/physiology/spirituality.

Is a 'cheating spouse' bad? Or is he/she searching for happiness / trying to fill a void in their life....or does he/she have a distorted 'view' of life (creations of ones own mind?). What if the spouse doesn't like what he/she is doing, think's it's wrong, and is still doing it anyway? Why does it happen this way, and what does it have to do with creations of our own minds Vs our basic human nature / physiology / spirituality ?

Probably many other questions that one could ask...most likely not even along the lines of what I asked above

Over thinking is when your thinking hinders your action. If you intend to do nothing, you cannot overthink.

One might read: Blink: http://www.amazon.com/Blink-Power-Thinking-Without/dp/0316172324. The author covers the neuro-psychological phenomena discussed in this thread.

I would think the problem is that people underthink, and by quite a lot. I have never met anyone who overthinks. As Bertrand Russell once wisely remarked, "Most people would rather die than think. And in fact, many do".

"And the native hue of resolution is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought; and enterprises of great pitch and moment, With this regard, their currents turn awry, and lose the name of action."
"" William Shakespeare (Hamlet)

Imo it's when the rationallity factor is understimulated and a compulsive behaviour forces you to overthink things, thus you can't stop thinking in all kinds of directions and applying too many things to your equation.

Reminds me a bit of the compulsive collector behaviour, when one can't help collect things, as you can't help "collect things" to your reasoning and eqation.

Hex I often do not agree with you but in this instance I think you are spot on.

Ok
Thanks anyways.

No offense intended my Dad was one of my very best friends and I agreed with him about almost nothing. S'all good in the hood yo.

No, that all 'knowledge' is, to some extent, generalisation.

My thoughts entirely

All this talking from OTHER PEOPLE will not help YOU solve YOUR problem. Only you know the true answers, you are your own beginning and end, Live right now.

You know the term psycopath and skitzophrenic? Usually they'r in denial of their own mental illness, so what you say is invalid.

Ah yes, but doesn't the term "mental illness" imply that there is such a thing a "mental health" or a certain way of thinking deemed to be correct? Or "better" in anyway? How can you say that? How can one mind ever be "better", or "more correct" than another?

Sorry, but what you say is invalid as well.

you make a false conclusion.

Of course there is such a thing as mental health, but that does not mean the there is one correct way of thinking.

You might as well say if there is such a thing as physical illness, that implies there is such a thing as physical health, and there is a certain correct way to be healthy.

There are many ways one can be physically and/or mentally healthy, or ill.

Alright. Let me ask you this then. What would be the point in trying to achieve "mental heath"?

Would you rather be healthy, or ill?

Whose to say what's "ill" and what's not?