Overthinking can be our superpower if we use it well(arpit.bearblog.dev)
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Overthinking can be our superpower if we use it well
https://arpit.bearblog.dev/overthinking-can-be-our-superpower-if-we-use-it-well/
16 comments
Overthinking by definition is thinking too much.
What he describes is just thinking
I'd say thinking is the union type of under and overthinking.
The approximation error he makes is a limit of our language.
I propose to coin the word opti-thinking to fill the semantic gap.
I do bullet journaling. I don't write blogposts very well, and prefer little actionable 'bullet point' one liners that I execute upon later. Most of my ideas come at night when my brain is super busy. I wouldn't call it 'overthinking' as you can't think about things enough!
Thinking is valuable and not some malady we have to overcome. Come morning, after I caffeinate, and do 5 mins of meditation, I execute on as many bullets as possible. I don't care if I don't complete them all. It's nice to check some off though!
Thinking is valuable and not some malady we have to overcome. Come morning, after I caffeinate, and do 5 mins of meditation, I execute on as many bullets as possible. I don't care if I don't complete them all. It's nice to check some off though!
If you want to be absolutely right, overthinking is necessary.
If you want to be productive (while being 80% right), it isn't.
I've spent my (short) life overthinking and being "right" about things, but I've noticed that people that don't overthink and just go for something that's just kinda right have better results than me.
Maybe in the upper echelons of achievement (Elon Musk and friends), overthinking is necessary, because they've already used other resources (like, actually doing things) to the point of diminishg returns, and then overthinking can become a competitive advantage.
For the remaining 99.9% of us, actually trying things, even if not 100% right, is better, I think. I'm personally making an effort to reduce my overthinking.
If you want to be productive (while being 80% right), it isn't.
I've spent my (short) life overthinking and being "right" about things, but I've noticed that people that don't overthink and just go for something that's just kinda right have better results than me.
Maybe in the upper echelons of achievement (Elon Musk and friends), overthinking is necessary, because they've already used other resources (like, actually doing things) to the point of diminishg returns, and then overthinking can become a competitive advantage.
For the remaining 99.9% of us, actually trying things, even if not 100% right, is better, I think. I'm personally making an effort to reduce my overthinking.
Thinking is good only when your mental model is correct with respect to reality.
The best way to get your mental model correct is to do the thing, and learn from it.
That's why people who do things are more likely to have better thought processes than people who overthink things.
The best way to get your mental model correct is to do the thing, and learn from it.
That's why people who do things are more likely to have better thought processes than people who overthink things.
> Thinking is good only when your mental model is correct with respect to reality.
Now that’s as good of a blog post thesis statement as it gets. Genuinely well said, this really simplified a really common fallacious pattern of thought that constantly frustrates me. This helps. Put it in a T-shirt.
Now that’s as good of a blog post thesis statement as it gets. Genuinely well said, this really simplified a really common fallacious pattern of thought that constantly frustrates me. This helps. Put it in a T-shirt.
amen. couldn't agree more
My working hypothesis is that we have a hierarchy of intelligence:
1. Emotional responses are the output of a policy that has been trained over the course of evolution. If you convinced yourself out of an emotional response, but it turns out that the emotional response was correct, then you “overthought” in that case.
2. If you have a lot of experience in a domain, your initial automatic response is the output of a highly trained and compressed policy that embodies your experience, and largely bypasses deliberative thinking. If you convince yourself out of your initial automatic response, and it turns out your automatic response was correct, then this is a case of overthinking.
3. If you are in a situation where you do not have a good automatic response, you will turn to focused thought. The set of active neurons during this focused thought might be capable of reasoning through the problem, but they also might not be. If you continue to focus without making progress, this is a case of overthinking.
4. If you cannot come to an answer via focused thought, often the solution is to stop actively thinking about it so that your brain can enter the diffused mode of thinking, where it can try activating more disparate sets of neurons to find the answer. I would probably not say that someone can over-diffuse-think, but one can wait too long. At some point, its best to start using tools, like writing, or look for the information externally, like reading.
1. Emotional responses are the output of a policy that has been trained over the course of evolution. If you convinced yourself out of an emotional response, but it turns out that the emotional response was correct, then you “overthought” in that case.
2. If you have a lot of experience in a domain, your initial automatic response is the output of a highly trained and compressed policy that embodies your experience, and largely bypasses deliberative thinking. If you convince yourself out of your initial automatic response, and it turns out your automatic response was correct, then this is a case of overthinking.
3. If you are in a situation where you do not have a good automatic response, you will turn to focused thought. The set of active neurons during this focused thought might be capable of reasoning through the problem, but they also might not be. If you continue to focus without making progress, this is a case of overthinking.
4. If you cannot come to an answer via focused thought, often the solution is to stop actively thinking about it so that your brain can enter the diffused mode of thinking, where it can try activating more disparate sets of neurons to find the answer. I would probably not say that someone can over-diffuse-think, but one can wait too long. At some point, its best to start using tools, like writing, or look for the information externally, like reading.
For chronic over thinkers - writing out your thoughts will help relieve the heaviness in your head
Well the superpower here is definitely not verbosity. I expected something a little more stream of consciousness to demonstrate the alleged overthinking.
Any problem can be your superpower. Well, usually not the problem, but the coping mechanism. If you exhibit a severe disfunction and you're high functioning, there you go . . . superpower.
Maybe the real superpower on display here is concision.
Any problem can be your superpower. Well, usually not the problem, but the coping mechanism. If you exhibit a severe disfunction and you're high functioning, there you go . . . superpower.
Maybe the real superpower on display here is concision.
The risk of underthinking is just too high.
Thinking doesn't bring desired results? Try feeling for a change.
Because the thinking brain only knows about past experiences, it may have problem adjusting to most unknown present circumstances. That's when feeling can help.
Because the thinking brain only knows about past experiences, it may have problem adjusting to most unknown present circumstances. That's when feeling can help.
Thinking (analyzing) is a superpower and Overthinking (over-analyzing) is an unfortunate application of Thinking.
The real problem with the world is underthinking.
I think it is more paralysis by over thinking leading lack of action.
If you want to do good, get off the couch and do it.
What you do might not be off the mole but it'll probably be in the right direction, and if not you can readjust
If you want to do good, get off the couch and do it.
What you do might not be off the mole but it'll probably be in the right direction, and if not you can readjust
What a stupid post