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> Since neither the future or the past can be changed by obsessive thoughts in the present... Is this really true, though? The past certainly cannot be change

by bavila 5y ago

> Since neither the future or the past can be changed by obsessive thoughts in the present... Is this really true, though? The past certainly cannot be changed, but the future is not set in stone. If I spend my time obsessively thinking about what kind of person I want to be, what kind of career I want to have, or what sort of companion I want to have in life, then it seems reasonable that these thoughts will lead me to pursue different courses of action than I would have pursued had I _not_ spent all this time in such ruminations. And, ideally, such thoughts should lead to better future outcomes, if the actions born from such thoughts are well-reasoned. Granted, this may not necessarily be the case in all circumstances, and an excess in obsessions may potentially lead to detrimental outcomes. But I think our ability to feel anxiety can be a blessing, not just a curse, when we work through our anxieties carefully and productively.

wpietri 5y ago
For me the dividing line is in how productive the thought is. If the thought leads to new understanding and behavioral change, I'd call neither regret nor worry obsessive. That said, there's a bit of a definitional trick being played here by most people. In the just-released "The Tomorrow War", one character is portrayed as irritatingly obsessive about a science topic. Their detailed knowledge turns out to be useful later, at which point respect for him is portrayed. The judgment criteria shift in retrospect, even though the behavior is the same. A darker example comes from "Maus", a memoir about a Jew who barely escaped Nazi Germany. His pre-escape behavior in abstract could easily be described as obsessively worried. But in practice, the ones who were more "reasonable" went into the ovens. My takeaway from this is that apparently maladaptive behavior is often just adaptive to a different environment. That's certainly my experience.
teddyh 5y ago
> The past certainly cannot be changed Sure it can. Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia. This is because the past does not exist, as Alan Watts described.

by bavila 5y ago

wpietri 5y ago

For me the dividing line is in how productive the thought is. If the thought leads to new understanding and behavioral change, I'd call neither regret nor worry obsessive. That said, there's a bit of a definitional trick being played here by most people. In the just-released "The Tomorrow War", one character is portrayed as irritatingly obsessive about a science topic. Their detailed knowledge turns out to be useful later, at which point respect for him is portrayed. The judgment criteria shift in retrospect, even though the behavior is the same. A darker example comes from "Maus", a memoir about a Jew who barely escaped Nazi Germany. His pre-escape behavior in abstract could easily be described as obsessively worried. But in practice, the ones who were more "reasonable" went into the ovens. My takeaway from this is that apparently maladaptive behavior is often just adaptive to a different environment. That's certainly my experience.

teddyh 5y ago

> The past certainly cannot be changed Sure it can. Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia. This is because the past does not exist, as Alan Watts described.