Thinking too much can be bad for you (2012) • Hacker News Board

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

#191

Post by mam2 » Wed, Feb 10, 2021, 9:19 AM UTC

personlurking wrote: post #184

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…

>Alfred Whitehead's observation that 'civilisation advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking of them'. Reminds me a bit of a quote I heard recently: "Tradition is a set of solutions for which we have forgotten the problems. Throw away the solution and you get the problem back."

It's actually a very interesting line of thought, but people lose their mind as soon as you start digging in.

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

#192

Post by IAmNotAFix » Wed, Feb 10, 2021, 9:21 AM UTC

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…

This is true at every level of chess. The thinking optimum is somewhere between "playing without caution" and "over-analysing". Over-analysing is theorically the best but because we're not computers there are mistakes in our resulting assertions.

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

#193

Post by esperent » Wed, Feb 10, 2021, 9:27 AM UTC

personlurking wrote: post #184

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…

>Alfred Whitehead's observation that 'civilisation advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking of them'. Reminds me a bit of a quote I heard recently: "Tradition is a set of solutions for which we have forgotten the problems. Throw away the solution and you get the problem back."

It might apply to some traditions. However, for others, this is more accurate:

"Tradition is a set of solutions for problems that don't exist anymore".

An example of the latter that immediately springs to mind is circumcision.

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

#194

Post by mcjkrw » Wed, Feb 10, 2021, 9:32 AM UTC

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…

What type of meditation did you try? Try following / counting breaths. Definitely counting in the beginning, breathe out, 1, breathe in, breathe out, 2, breathe in ... up to 10, then re-start to 1. Do it for 20 min before falling asleep. Then as you try to fall asleep do the same.

Don't be discouraged if it's not working right away. It has to work but you may need months of training before it starts to work well.

The hardest challenge is to be completely cold to the thoughts, no matter how important they may seem, ignore them and return to counting the breaths.

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

#195

Post by giu » Wed, Feb 10, 2021, 9:37 AM UTC

bloodorange wrote: post #172

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 assume you have already considered and observed the effect of alcohol and/or caffeine intake. One thing that definitely helps me is to have a routine for bedtime. A hot shower, bed preheated in winter (heated underblanket), keeping the room cold and reading a book while lying in bed. I typically pick technical material as it's less likely to keep me up all night with an engrossing story. At some point, I notice tha…

Just wanted to say that I have almost the same bedtime-routine as OP and it has been life-changing for me. I can wholeheartedly recommend this.

From time to time I also add a 5-minute meditation to the routine and it works quite well for me.

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

#196

Post by RHSman2 » Wed, Feb 10, 2021, 9:39 AM UTC

'and something you just do without thinking about it.' Well, when you think about it you've changed the underlying quantum structure ;)

--- Cue the internet saying this isn't how quantum entanglement works #TheGame

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

#197

Post by RHSman2 » Wed, Feb 10, 2021, 9:43 AM UTC

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…

My wife likes to give me advice on how to sleep. She sleeps within secs/minutes of going to bed.

This is like someone who doesn't have depression telling someone with depression to 'read a good book' ;)

Meditation is effectively what the article is talking about. Not following those thought avenue's.

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

#198

Post by killtimeatwork » Wed, Feb 10, 2021, 9:44 AM UTC

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?

60-90 minutes of walking after work, without using any devices during the walk. Makes a big difference for how sleepy I am later.

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

#199

Post by hansbo » Wed, Feb 10, 2021, 9:46 AM UTC

esperent wrote: post #193

personlurking wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Alfred Whitehead's observation that 'civilisation advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking of them'. Reminds me a bit of a quote I heard recently: "Tradition is a set of solutions for which we have forgotten the problems. Throw away the solution and you get the problem back."

It might apply to some traditions. However, for others, this is more accurate: "Tradition is a set of solutions for problems that don't exist anymore". An example of the latter that immediately springs to mind is circumcision.

What problem did it solve before?

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

#200

Post by pantulis » Wed, Feb 10, 2021, 9:47 AM UTC

I'd say that it's not thinking too much -- your brain can't stop thinking! The issue is not being aware that you are thinking and that's what cognitive therapy, meditation and mindfulness is all about: being present while you think allows you to understand how this thought process affects your emotions.