on thinking

Socrates once said: The unexamined life is not worth living. But the overexamined life is not worth living either. The Watts trap: “A person who thinks all the time has nothing to think about except thoughts. So they lose touch with reality and live in a world of illusions.”

But in a ​recent podcast appearance​, James Mariott, a critic and columnist for The Times of London ,summarized a hypothesis that has been gaining traction: as we switch our information consumption from print to digital devices, our ability to think deeply degrades.

I have more exciting ideas when I don’t feel shame about what excites me, when I allow myself to be stupid and naive and boring. I try not to judge myself in the act of giving birth to ideas.

you practice seeing your overthinking not as a flaw, but as a system that needs routine maintenance

emotional hygiene is recognizing the early symptoms of overstimulation and choosing not to intellectualize your way through them.

we live in an era where analysis is conflated with emotional depth, where second-guessing is seen as intellectual responsibility, where being “too self-aware” has become a quiet badge of honor.