I can kind of empathize. I'm happiest when I'm spending all day doing something that requires all of my concentration and no thought, so that I can't think at all, and that tires me out enough physically that I fall asleep right away. An example would be spending 14 hours in one day working on physics homework, or 8 hours doing detailed manual labor (like machining a complicated piece). The moment I have any spare time I start to think, and not only can I not start working again, I also can't sleep.

And I've definitely had the experience of sounding a lot smarter than I am because I'd run through an argument several times in my head already, and knew all of the counter arguments, whereas the question being argued was new to whoever I was talking to. I've found that eventually it gets so boring that I resort to speaking to people Socratecally and seeing what conclusions I can force them to come up with.

(Reply) (Thread)

I'm happiest when I'm spending all day doing something that requires all of my concentration and no thought, so that I can't think at all, and that tires me out enough physically that I fall asleep right away.

It's interesting--I think that's why I don't think things like long hours doing tedious lab stuff. Or at least, I'm unable to interact with people in the way that I'd like after I do. Because it's fun to think about things and sound smart.

See, I actually think I end up sounding less intelligent sometimes because I don't usually think about random, interesting philosophical things, and so when something comes up in conversation, I haven't thought about it before. (Unless it's something that I've done a lot of research on for a class, at least, and then I might have some insight on it.) I guess I usually focus more on what I'm doing, what I want to be doing, what I'm going to be doing, and what other people are doing, which might be somewhat more functional, but in my mind, it's less fun. Of course, this also isn't to say that I don't think too much about things and overanalyze a lot, because I obviously do. But I think I would have an easier time having fun conversations with interesting people if my brain worked more like yours. (Addressed to Arthur now more than sildra, although I guess it applies to both of you). But I LIKE overanalyzing--well, usually, at least...although I'm also happier when I'm home if I spend some time working at the grocery store here, doing somewhat mindless work that also forces me to be social, rather than just sitting at home. So that does stop me from overanalyzing up to a point, and that is one reason why I might really want to do an MD/PhD rather than just doing academic stuff, because that kind of structured interaction with people is nice to have sometimes to stop me from getting stuck overanalyzing the same things. But if nothing else, working at the grocery store just gives me new material to analyze, while also toning down the urge to analyze when there's nothing to analyze. But when there is something to analyze, I definitely like it, and having a mind like yours gives you more material to analyze. So, I think it would be kind of fun to have more random ideas like you do... But I also realize that if I actually did have that, I might get annoyed with it like you do, since there are definitely good and bad sides to it. (And probably if I were more like you, I would probably be even less able to relate to my parents...) So, I dunno. It is interesting, though...

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

For me, at least, I don't need social contact at all as long as I'm keeping sufficiently busy. Socializing is only useful to fill in gaps of otherwise free time. So I don't need to interact with people after doing hours of tedious lab stuff.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

Oh, sure. There are lots of different kinds of "thought traps" I've noticed -- constrained cognitive paths that lock you in once you start on them and don't let you go, even in response to an effort of will or external stimuli. The ones that have to do with learning -- "I must know more about this, I must figure it out" -- are better, because they open outward, they force you to keep thinking about new things. The ones that have to do with analysis and poking holes in things -- "I must *make sure* this is really right" -- suck extremely much, because they close inward, as they go on you start fixating more and more narrowly on the particular thing that bothers you until you're spinning in a tight little spiral around one idea until you burn out.

Things that have been really good triggers for inward-closing thought-traps for me in the past have been maintaining relationships with emotionally sensitive people, submitting creative writing for publication, and debating the merits of Theory. Which is why I try to avoid all three, and why I think I'm fortunate that, well, I'm not you (much as I hate to say it, I feel like inward-closing thought-traps are your Achilles' heel, except that it's a heel so big it takes up one whole leg and part of another).

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

Ohhh... so that's what you do... You know, I've wondered that since I was three.

(Reply) (Thread)

i had this exact problem when i was little. then they medicated me. (yes, for ADD. i was on obscene amounts of ritalin, maybe 5 or 6 times what my friends took.)

i kind of regret it, though. i functioned much better but i felt... dumbed down. still do, actually.

(Reply) (Thread)

That's how Andy describes his thoughts. like, as faster than everyone else's and more going on all at once. child ADD. adult bipolar(?).

doesn't take medication. sold his ritalin to some kid in middle school. :)

(Reply) (Thread)

I also empathize a bit... I definitely tend to think about six things besides a conversation I'm having (sometimes including loose threads from the same conversation). Most of my auto-rambling is shameful recapitulations of unpleasant bits of my personal history, though, and besides being largely unproductive at all doesn't tend to, as you rightly observe it does for you, serve to make me sound like I know what I'm talking about or, to put it a more flattering way, lead me to form interesting and relatively-well-thought-out positions on sundry topics.

(Reply) (Thread)