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Thinking too much can be bad for you (2012)

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Re: Thinking too much can be bad for you (2012)

#131

Post by 2112 »

hertzrat wrote: post #121
2112 wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“In the words of the ancients, one should make his decisions within the space of seven breaths. Lord Takandobu said, “If discrimination is long, it will spoil.” Lord Naoshige said, “When matters are done leisurely, seven out of ten will turn out badly. A warrior is a person who does things quickly. When your mind is going hither and thither, discrimination will never be brought to a conclusion. With an intense, fresh…

What about when there is a huge length of time between the plan and the final execution? Do you just not let yourself think about it after the 7th breath? In the context of the hagakure, I suppose it would apply to battle strategy?

It applies to the process of taking the decision (to execute), not the executing itself. After the seventh breath, you don't go back to pondering on yes / no, you just proceed as decided.

I suppose one can figure out exactly how you're supposed to handle what you decided you were going to handle afterward.

Disclaimer : I am not a Samurai.

Re: Thinking too much can be bad for you (2012)

#132

Post by feoren »

amatecha wrote: post #59
ChipSkylark wrote: post #55

Being already known by my friends and family to be an "overthinker" and prone to "analysis paralysis", I sometimes wonder why I'm still a SWE. I've slowly started to realize over time that my profession is filled with overthinking and over-engineering, and that our interview process can even select for it. IMO its hard to be the person that aces the technical interview gauntlet then walks out of the building and turn…

As someone who's been programming for years, one of my biggest complaints in software is over-engineering. It's so universally prevalent, I literally expect to get downvoted for even making this comment. I strongly advocate for simplicity in software implementation, allowing for maintainability and flexibility... the cleanest solution that reaches the goal and doesn't lock us too far into a narrow approach that may b…

It's a weird term, "over engineering". Think about over-engineering a bridge. What does it look like? Huge and bulky, way too expensive, able to hold much more weight than it should, lots of walkways and access points and design features that nobody really wants? But wait: "any fool can build a bridge that doesn't fall down. It takes an engineer to build a bridge that just barely doesn't fall down." The whole point of engineering is to figure out exactly what the bridge needs to do and make it do only that. So the "over-engineered" bridge is actually under-engineered -- they haven't thought enough about the actual problem. So too is most code that is called "over-engineered" -- it's far more common that people haven't though enough about the problem than that they've over-thought it.

Re: Thinking too much can be bad for you (2012)

#133

Post by snarkypixel »

amatecha wrote: post #59
ChipSkylark wrote: post #55

Being already known by my friends and family to be an "overthinker" and prone to "analysis paralysis", I sometimes wonder why I'm still a SWE. I've slowly started to realize over time that my profession is filled with overthinking and over-engineering, and that our interview process can even select for it. IMO its hard to be the person that aces the technical interview gauntlet then walks out of the building and turn…

As someone who's been programming for years, one of my biggest complaints in software is over-engineering. It's so universally prevalent, I literally expect to get downvoted for even making this comment. I strongly advocate for simplicity in software implementation, allowing for maintainability and flexibility... the cleanest solution that reaches the goal and doesn't lock us too far into a narrow approach that may b…

"over-engineering" is a fuzzy term though. For someone, using a third-party service to handle users auth flow is a time saver, and building the whole flow themselves would be over-engineered. For another, using a third-party service for auth would be adding layers of complexity on top of a simple db request, and would thus be considered over-engineered.

Re: Thinking too much can be bad for you (2012)

#134

Post by AndrewPaul42 »

I am reminded of Alan Watts' book, 'The Wisdom of Insecurity,' where I was first exposed to this idea that "thinking too much can be bad for you." I found it lifechanging as it helped me to better manage OCD and anxiety. Recommended reading if you are searching for a tool to slow or limit your thinking.

Re: Thinking too much can be bad for you (2012)

#135

Post by jasondigitized »

Barrin92 wrote: post #58

In chess there's an idiom for this. "Long think, wrong think" because it's a quite common phenomenon that very good players will ruin positions by rather than playing with their good instinct, over-analyzing a position, there's a related situation of the hardest games to win being already won positions because there's so many ways to win that people will on occasion start doing something really stupid akin to the exa…

In Dominoes the term is “study long study wrong”

Re: Thinking too much can be bad for you (2012)

#137

Post by aerospace_guy »

float4 wrote: post #69
hnick wrote: post #66

Thinking keeps me awake. It's getting worse as I get older. Maybe it's anxiety or something related, and sometimes it's worried thoughts, but often it's just running through scenarios. Video games, media plots, what I need to do next week. My brain is far more active after 10pm, and I am personally more motivated. I get a burst of energy but it's not really the right time to clean the house so lying in bed has it all…

I'm exactly the same, only I've done it ever since I was very little and it simply never went away (I'm in my early 20s now). Usually I'm awake in my bed for at least an hour. Sometimes two. I just really can't stop thinking. It's not anxiety in my case. Any people here who were in a similar situation and were able to get rid of it, or make significant improvement?

Try meditation. Control your mind.

Re: Thinking too much can be bad for you (2012)

#138

Post by patrickdavey »

seankimdesign wrote: post #84
float4 wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm exactly the same, only I've done it ever since I was very little and it simply never went away (I'm in my early 20s now). Usually I'm awake in my bed for at least an hour. Sometimes two. I just really can't stop thinking. It's not anxiety in my case. Any people here who were in a similar situation and were able to get rid of it, or make significant improvement?

I've been dealing with a similar condition for a while. I've learned that it's impossible for me to "not think". Any attempts at emptying my head will only invite more anxieties and problems to be solved. Instead, I've learned to fill it with trivial, creative challenges that occupy keep my brain busy enough to ward off negative thoughts yet introduce no stakes. Some examples include: - If I found myself stranded on…

Speaking of the Harry Potter system.. have you come across http://www.hpmor.com/ (Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality)?

If not, I can guarantee* you'll enjoy it.

* as much as anything can be guaranteed anyway ;)

Re: Thinking too much can be bad for you (2012)

#139

Post by salawat »

cocoa19 wrote: post #96
Barrin92 wrote: post #58

In chess there's an idiom for this. "Long think, wrong think" because it's a quite common phenomenon that very good players will ruin positions by rather than playing with their good instinct, over-analyzing a position, there's a related situation of the hardest games to win being already won positions because there's so many ways to win that people will on occasion start doing something really stupid akin to the exa…

"civilisation advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking of them" Similar concept is applied to programming, we call that concept abstraction.

That's completely different, and not wholely beneficial either. The piper's due is merely deferred until the last of the original abstractor's guard dies, then everyome who relied on it has to rederive the fundamentals, or stagnate.

Re: Thinking too much can be bad for you (2012)

#140

Post by sh87 »

feoren wrote: post #132
amatecha wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who's been programming for years, one of my biggest complaints in software is over-engineering. It's so universally prevalent, I literally expect to get downvoted for even making this comment. I strongly advocate for simplicity in software implementation, allowing for maintainability and flexibility... the cleanest solution that reaches the goal and doesn't lock us too far into a narrow approach that may b…

It's a weird term, "over engineering". Think about over-engineering a bridge. What does it look like? Huge and bulky, way too expensive, able to hold much more weight than it should, lots of walkways and access points and design features that nobody really wants? But wait: "any fool can build a bridge that doesn't fall down. It takes an engineer to build a bridge that just barely doesn't fall down." The whole point o…

I like to call it "poor engineering" and there are many forms of poor engineering I've seen. Following the analogy... painting the bottom of the bridge in same color as the terrain. Then repainting because there were color differences.

Spending time and money looking for lighter materials even when the bridge is designed to support a lot more weight than traditional time tested materials. Justification : "Maybe cars will get heavier, and bigger saving 3 pounds is a good pursuit"

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