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Longer than you should? There is no such thing. Of course it's possible to spend thought without resulting in any new discoveries but that's not really a proble

Longer than you should? There is no such thing. Of course it's possible to spend thought without resulting in any new discoveries but that's not really a problem because thoughts are interconnected and build upon each other to create better mental models for other situations. It doesn't matter how petty or insignificant the topic is, it's the act of thinking deeply about something that's important. Anyway, I understand the social context of the phrase, but my point is that it's used so often in place a real argument and is a sign of the greater superficiality of most discussions today.

sn41 6y ago
But brooding for a long time is not really healthy. I don't know the exact issue on which you got mocked, but there are these unproductive loops of thought into which you can slip into, spending many days. It takes some other pressing issue to snap out of this.
hilbertseries 6y ago
Overthinking and dwelling on things is a real problem, particularly for people with anxiety disorders. And the suggestion that you can’t think about something for too long is ridiculous.
- manigandham 6y ago
  What's too long? Explain that reasoning. Clearly a disorder is something else other than healthy deep thought. Overthinking, dwelling (and brooding as the other commenter said) isn't the same as contemplative or investigative thought about a topic. Rather, it's the opposite and isn't very thoughtful at all.
  - dmoy 6y ago
    Too long is so long that time spent thinking on the thing disrupted or took away time from some other higher priority thing / task / whatever. Or so long that it delayed the decision / outcome / whatever enough that it had materially negative impact compared to making a suboptimal, but earlier decision.
Bakary 6y ago
>It doesn't matter how petty or insignificant the topic is, it's the act of thinking deeply about something that's important. That concept is not clear to me at least. There is a limited physical aspect to life and there are steep opportunity costs
stickfigure 6y ago
> Longer than you should? There is no such thing. Try getting a toddler to clean up his toys.

sn41 6y ago

But brooding for a long time is not really healthy. I don't know the exact issue on which you got mocked, but there are these unproductive loops of thought into which you can slip into, spending many days. It takes some other pressing issue to snap out of this.

hilbertseries 6y ago

Overthinking and dwelling on things is a real problem, particularly for people with anxiety disorders. And the suggestion that you can’t think about something for too long is ridiculous.

manigandham 6y ago
What's too long? Explain that reasoning. Clearly a disorder is something else other than healthy deep thought. Overthinking, dwelling (and brooding as the other commenter said) isn't the same as contemplative or investigative thought about a topic. Rather, it's the opposite and isn't very thoughtful at all.
- dmoy 6y ago
  Too long is so long that time spent thinking on the thing disrupted or took away time from some other higher priority thing / task / whatever. Or so long that it delayed the decision / outcome / whatever enough that it had materially negative impact compared to making a suboptimal, but earlier decision.

Bakary 6y ago

>It doesn't matter how petty or insignificant the topic is, it's the act of thinking deeply about something that's important. That concept is not clear to me at least. There is a limited physical aspect to life and there are steep opportunity costs

stickfigure 6y ago

> Longer than you should? There is no such thing. Try getting a toddler to clean up his toys.