Chronic overthinker?

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Cirrus
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Re: Chronic overthinker?

Post by Cirrus »

Greta wrote:[...] So people are encouraged to feel guilty about excessive thinking about esoteria. Hence this thread. The OP is not one with a lively, inquiring mind but a "chronic overthinker". It's simply the pathologisation of independent intelligence. [...]
You have a point in that independent thinking is too often pathologised, but the OP is not an example of this. It's about chronic overthinking which causes problems such as exhausting oneself and the need for skills to disengage from that when needed, not simply independent thinking or thinking a lot when this isn't a problem. Those of us who spend large amounts of time disengaged from the external world to be absorbed in thought need to address certain practical matters, including mental health and the development of psychological skills besides just thinking, even if only so that more large amounts of independent, healthy thinking will be possible.
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Sy Borg
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Re: Chronic overthinker?

Post by Sy Borg »

Cirrus wrote:
Greta wrote:[...] So people are encouraged to feel guilty about excessive thinking about esoteria. Hence this thread. The OP is not one with a lively, inquiring mind but a "chronic overthinker". It's simply the pathologisation of independent intelligence. [...]
You have a point in that independent thinking is too often pathologised, but the OP is not an example of this. It's about chronic overthinking which causes problems such as exhausting oneself and the need for skills to disengage from that when needed, not simply independent thinking or thinking a lot when this isn't a problem. Those of us who spend large amounts of time disengaged from the external world to be absorbed in thought need to address certain practical matters, including mental health and the development of psychological skills besides just thinking, even if only so that more large amounts of independent, healthy thinking will be possible.
Is it the chicken or the egg? Is Kerry's thinking itself a problem or a symptom of a deeper issue? We think a lot when we have burning questions. When we are content there's less need to solve problems.

Of course some of us cannot be content with being content :)
The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated—Gandhi.
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Cirrus
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Re: Chronic overthinker?

Post by Cirrus »

Greta wrote:Is it the chicken or the egg? Is Kerry's thinking itself a problem or a symptom of a deeper issue? We think a lot when we have burning questions. When we are content there's less need to solve problems.

Of course some of us cannot be content with being content :)
That's an impressive bunch of issues compressed into those little sentences. Without speculating on the symptoms or deeper issues of anyone in particular, I think you're right that burning issues and discontent often prompt rumination and problem-solving. Thinking a lot may not be a problem in itself but it can cause problems if due balance is lacking and if warning signs aren't heeded. Brains evolved for survival, and even when we're well and content, survival-relevant topics tend to have a powerful hold on our minds. Besides plain exhaustion by chronic overthinking as mentioned in the OP, or getting caught in downward spirals as I've mentioned, another pitfall of heavy-duty thinking can occur when a problem of great existential significance has a hold on one's mind and forks into a larger set of compelling significant topics which can't be dropped and so on, and the combinatorial explosion can be so overwhelming it's forking hell. That's when skills of disengaging and taking a break come in handy. Aristotle noted in book 10 of his very pro-thinking Nichomachean Ethics that "Anacharsis's motto, play in order that you may work, is felt to be the right rule. For amusement is a form of rest; [...] we need rest because we are not able to go on working without a break".
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Rr6
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Re: Chronic overthinker?

Post by Rr6 »

Age of Common Sense
......r6.....

No one knows, what future unfolds,
Rays of light, colored with hope,
Dancing nano-energies, fulfilling our dreams,
Networks blooming spirit, far, wide and deep,

Let us pray, let us speak,
Lets us see our humanity, from a global peak,
High on information, data streams galore,
Let us emanate great heart, from every pore.

No human is misplaced, no biological not known,
The kids still growing, or already grown,
All is not perfect, cracks always appear,
The spirit of human kindness, helps relieve any fear.

Talk is cheap, inexpensive indeed,
Humanity talks much, when in dire need,
Send me a phrase, or lines upon lines,
Free us from suspicion, and misinformation seeds.

We race to our end, or our recursive beginnings,
Minds advancing technologies, may help bridge the gap,
Between dark-age of soot and the light age of Solar,
Its Hydrogen from light, and common-sense as the rap.
"U"niverse > UniVerse > universe > I-verse < you-verse < we-verse < them-verse
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Orategama
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Re: Chronic overthinker?

Post by Orategama »

A philosophy professor talking about "too much thinking". The problem maybe that academic philosophy has little to do with creative thinking. Every kind of mental activity can not be called thinking, or there will be confusion.
Thinking is not ruminating endlessly or chasing distracting mental phenomena while trying to concentrate on something else. If you are not aware of your surroundings here and now, when you think you had better be aware, this is not healthy or creative thinking. Creative thinking needs a method.
Of course some questions or ideas may come to our minds during daily activities, it's better to carry a notebook to note them, but daily activities are not less valuable than philosophical problems. These "mundane" activities need and deserve our full attention as much as deep questions.
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