Do you have a thinking problem?

[jraabe]

Another tidbit from Daily Reckoning:

"Do You Have a Thinking Problem?

"It started out innocently enough. I began to think at parties now and
then to loosen up. Inevitably though, one thought led to another, and soon
I was more than just a social thinker.

"I began to think alone - 'to relax,' I told myself - but I knew it wasn't
true. Thinking became more and more important to me, and finally I was
thinking all the time.

"I began to think on the job. I knew that thinking and employment don't
mix, but I couldn't stop myself.

"I began to avoid friends at lunchtime so I could read Thoreau and Kafka.

"I would return to the office dizzied and confused, asking, 'What is it
exactly we are doing here?'

"Things weren't going so great at home either. One evening I had turned
off the TV and asked my wife about the meaning of life. She spent that
night at her mother's.

I soon had a reputation as a heavy thinker. One day the boss called me in.
He said, 'Skippy, I like you, and it hurts me to say this, but your
thinking has become a real problem. If you don't stop thinking on the job,
you'll have to find another job.' This gave me a lot to think about.

"I came home early after my conversation with the boss. 'Honey,' I
confessed, 'I've been thinking...'

"'I know you've been thinking,' she said, 'and I want a divorce!'

"'But Honey, surely it's not that serious.'

"'It is serious,' she said, lower lip aquiver. 'You think as much as
college professors, and college professors don't make any money, so if you
keep on thinking we won't have any money!'

"'That's a faulty syllogism,' I said impatiently, and she began to cry.
I'd had enough. 'I'm going to the library,' I snarled as I stomped out the
door.

"I headed for the library, in the mood for some Nietzsche, with NPR on the
radio. I roared into the parking lot and ran up to the big glass doors...
they didn't open. The library was closed.

"To this day, I believe that a Higher Power was looking out for me that
night.

"As I sank to the ground clawing at the unfeeling glass, whimpering for
Zarathustra, a poster caught my eye. 'Friend, is heavy thinking ruining
your life?' it asked. You probably recognize that line. It comes from the
standard Thinker's Anonymous poster.'

"Which is why I am what I am today: a recovering thinker. I never miss a
TA meeting. At each meeting we watch a non-educational video; last week it
was 'Porky's.' Then we share experiences about how we avoided thinking
since the last meeting.

"I still have my job, and things are a lot better at home. Life just
seemed...easier, somehow, as soon as I stopped thinking."

[Sassy]

Thanks, John, for sharing that important information.  I think I may have to go cold turkey, but don't think I'm ready yet...  :-/

[glenn-k]

Sometimes I think in my sleep then I wake up and I'm already thunk. :-/

[benevolance]

yeah but it sucks when you wake up...I mean when you sleep and dream you are free with no interruptions or distractions...Then you wake up and life sucks all the genius and pleasure out of your thoughts

[glenn-k]

Yeah - but I problem solve in my sleep -- many times I go to bed not knowing how to do something and when I wake up I do. :-/

(Maybe Sassy shows me while I'm sleeping?)

[benevolance]

I know what you are talking about...

Funny thing about you mentioning your wife...I always tease my wife that I am going to play subliminal tapes while she sleeps....We have this routine...I whisper to her as she lays down...

"I am your master"
"Do as I command"
"You will listen to me"

Usually good for a playful slap... hehe

As for figuring things out...I think it is a case of the brain is an amazing tool....Life just gets in the way of allowing it to work... People telling you this cannot be done...Or you need to do this or that...

Like a child with autism that can calculate amazing sums or read at the speed of thought....Because of their problems with social interaction and emotion they can literally turn on their minds like a light switch and harness an amazing potential

If you ever want to achieve something great while awake distraction is the key....Seriously... Remember those paintings inside a painting...The direct approach never works... you need to lose focus

Same thing trying to get results from the brain while life is happening ful speed....Get your mind off of it and allow instinct to take over or vice versa depending on what type of thinker you are.

If I have something I cannot figure out I turn on the radio or do a crossword puzzle while I think about it...And presto ideas and images pop into my head...I just needed to activate another part of my brain and stop focusing only on the problem at hand...

Weird as it sounds it really works...Maybe because when you are doing something else and thinking back to a previous problem you access visual memory of the situation and use the visual spacial part of the brain to work it out...

Dunno I am not really that well informed of the brain....My maw in law is a teacher she told me I am visual spacial mathematically inclined...So whatever she said...

[glenn-k]

That explains a lot, Peter.  If I can find my brain I'm going to check it out and see how it works. :-/

[benevolance]

I dunno about you glenn, but the older i get the dumber I feel

[Sassy]

Benevolance, that's cuz you realize how much you don't know  :-/ - back when I was 18 y/o my dad & I were debating the Vietnam war - he had been in the Air Force for about 26 yrs by then & had been to Vietnam for 18 mo's (officially stationed in Taiwan) he flew the big C 130's transporting troops mostly.  Anyway, as we were discussing the issues, I told him "I know more than you do & I'm only 18!"   He just laughed at me...  :-/

[benevolance]

ah to be 18 and "know Everything"

Is that where you got the name sassy?

[Sassy]

I've been known to live up to that name on occasion...  

[benevolance]

Ah well the stronger the backbone of the woman the better the man I always say..... Glenn must be counting his lucky stars as we speak

[jraabe]

Glenn, like I, was smart enough to marry a nurse. This is good planning for our dotage and gives us a certain safety net under our stupidity.  8-)

[jraabe]

Did you notice the Google Ads at the top of this thread?

Interesting.... Lateral Thinking.... Thinking Skills book... Ultra Intelligence.

Somehow I find that fascinating.   - perhaps I'm simply easily entertained.  

[peg_688]

Jeesh My brain hurts just thinkin about all this thinkin Reminds me of what Homer Simpson said , Ok brain you don't like me , and I don't like you , now lets finish this so I can go drink beer! Or some such

[benevolance]

John

Those are not the google ads I have...I have building plan links... Maybe it is the version of Firefox I am using?

Modular homes, Wholesale Homes, Modular home Builders?

[benevolance]

Peg,

That should go on a T shirt! Classic!

[jraabe]

Interesting... that's what I get too now that I've come back to this thread again - House plan stuff. Our general keywords no doubt.

Trying to understand Google makes my brain hurt... where's that beer, Homer?  

[benevolance]

John

Wow you mean you actually spend time trying to understand google...The beer is on me   You need it

[glenn-k]

My solution is to let
Sassy do my thinking for me - I'm only good at trivial matters.  She's the one who takes care of the hard stuff.  I'll go play now. :-/

[benevolance]

I tend to stay away from things....

Learn what is worth thinking about and what is not...Conserve what limited brain function and energy I have for the things I can comprehend...

Sort of like a logical intellectual application of the Lord's Prayer...

The Serenity to accept  the things I cannot change
The Courage to change the things I can
And the wisdom to know the difference.


I like to learn...But like Socrates...wisdom for me comes in realizing how much I have to learn and how little I currently know

[glenn-k]

Speaking of understanding Google  --anybody Googled the word "failure" to see what topics are returned? :-/