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How do you stop thinking?

It can be a stage. You'll overanalyze everything. Then if you are lucky, you'll understand.

Keep thinking! Be careful how you analyze though. The start is always the best place to begin. Many people start from the middle because it looks like the beginning and they never find the end.
 
DarthMom said:
medicate or meditate.

i can only hope the reason the gods made the words are so closely related is superfluous.
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Well, I believe twas humans who inevented words, so make of that what you will. The root terms of meidtate and medicate is medi- medium- yourself.
 
A zen nun told me stopping thoughts was impossible, at least if you're trying to stop them. Much better to let them arise and pass through your mind, without inviting them in for tea, as she put it. That means, don't follow them or get caught up in them, just watch them arise and fall away.

maybe that'll work...
 
interesting thread. ive always had this problem...i think it happens more when you are alone a lot or sitting doing nothing or cant fall asleep which is why i love falling asleep fast before i start getting anxious and overthinking mode
definitely exercise helps! i imagine meditation as well which i myself would like to try
it used to drive me near insane but i think there are some people that simply do and not over think. to me that is far better!
 
Part of the problem is that you are trying to, essentally, think away your thinking issue....this cannot work.

As hewhomustnotbenamed said, it is better to allow thoughts to arise in your mind, as that is the natural process of mind, but try not to cling to them; that is, try to let them flow through your head without actually attempting to impose structure or meaning onto them. This is best done thrugh practising meditation, where the aim is not to stop thinking, but to FOCUS the thinking on one specific thing- eg. your breath. The more you practive ignoring distracting thoughts or at least, not pursuing them, the more you can hone your attention so you can think about what you need to.

Bear in mind this- humans are animals that can think. That is our curse and blessing. We have thought out meanings for the contents of our galaxy, thought up gods and demons, thought up world wars, thought up beautiful poetry and art, etc. To stop thinking, for a human animal, is either a result of massive mental retardation/damage, or death. To control thinking/thought and to channel it properly is to be human and happy.

Thoughts are like currents in the ocean, all zipzapping around and entiwining with each other...its hard to pick out one precise flow to go with, but with concentration and THOUGHT, one can begin to discern the differring patterns and thus choose which eddy to follow.
 
Yeah!!

Life is to be surfed, but before you can surf you must notice the waves.
 
Dude im the same way.. my brain never fucking slows down. I over analyze a lot of things and usually find out things i probably would be better off being blissfully unaware of, all because i think and think and think and think. It doesn't always bother me, but sometimes when i try to fall asleep... fuck it's bad. Im not depressed or have really bad anxiety, i just think about everything.
 
Thought is a bi-product of having an unusually large neocortex; compared to other species. Humans are hard-wired for thought; there is no way to avoid thinking. However there are ways of slowing thought. Drugs, meditation, yoga etc etc.
 
Sometimes, its relieveing to just say fuggit, I'm confused and thats that. Some things just do not make sense no matter how you think of them....
 
it's not really healthy, but the way I've stopped thinking was to convince myself that all my thoughts are worthless -- somone smarter already thought the subject all the way through. usually a quick jump to bluelight's spirtual/philosophy or psychedelic thread confirms this for me.

think about the time you're wasting thinking. it's not gonna get you money, women or drugs. so do something else. have you dropped any other bad habits before? it's just like that.
 
think about the time you're wasting thinking
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Intriguingly weird sentence. Your remedy for his over thinking is to think about how much time he's wasting....hmm, isn't that kinda what the OP is referring to?

Personally, I don't think it all that wise to categorise your thoughts as "worthless", but sometimes its a relief to just be humble and admit to not understanding. I know that I will never understand quantum physics; I can relay the concepts and make some sense of them, but I have no idea why they are what they are- thats sometthing I just know I aint gonna learn... its a good idea to think thoughts (!) but its not a good idea to BE thoughts...a lesson I struggle to understand.

However, I believe thinking will get you things of a much greater value then money, women or drugs....buts thats just my opinion. I'd rather eternal freedom then any of the material things.
 
i have struggled with this for a long time. i figure since i notice its an issue, it probably is. well not an issue, but something that bothers me. the medicate or meditate/pray are the only things that work for me besides riding motorcycles and atvs to aggressivly, lol.
 
“The chief difference between humankind and the other animals is the ability to observe, think, reason, experiment, to communicate with one another through language; the mind is our proudest distinction, the finest achievement of our human evolution. I think we may safely assume that we are meant to use it.”

- Edward Abbey, Abbey's Road


Peace,

Fausty
 
And in using anything as a tool, we must maintain it's condition to retain it's effectiveness.

Fausty, I've seen all those behaviours in other mammals except reason. The only categorical difference between us and them is the ability to write and thus accumulate selective advantage over generations. Reason (i.e. abstract thinking) is a product of writing.
 
neonads said:
And in using anything as a tool, we must maintain it's condition to retain it's effectiveness.

Fausty, I've seen all those behaviours in other mammals except reason. The only categorical difference between us and them is the ability to write and thus accumulate selective advantage over generations. Reason (i.e. abstract thinking) is a product of writing.
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Well, I'd say a product of "syntactic language" and not merely writing - folks who are unable to write still have the capacity for general reasoning. And, of course, Ann Coulter can (apparently) write - and is without reason.

Also, I agree - of all people, I'd certainly point out that other critters do all that (and, as to language, there's still the marine mammals as a big question mark in that regard). I grant old Cactus Ed (r.i.p.) some poetic license in that regard because, well, I'm quite sure he understands just how similar we all are.

Peace,

Fausty
 
I don't think anyone can provide a strong solution for this question.
Meditation, medication, exercise are treatments for the symptoms, not the root cause.

But the larger issue of thought disorder/incoherrence/anxiety...I have no idea what to call it, maybe a more severe form of what the OP suggested, "overthink"
maybe.

More of malaise of the soul (or I suppose essence/being?)/ Sickness of mind.

I tend to think culturally instead of, say the science of it...where we in the society
expect a certain speed of thought, where we are programmed by media (in general) for speed. We program ourselves, but in that social process how do you get away from it? How do we get away from ourselves?

-2c babbling.
 
I don't think that the problem is that we think too much; I think it is that we sometimes think negatively. And from my experience, this is a by-product of depressive episodes, which pass with time. When thinking negatively, just ride it out. Once the clouds in your mind are gone, the thoughts you will experience can lead to creativity and excitement rather than sorrow.
 
i wonder how much of our suffering is really a choice to just "think" positive...

but true time seems to be the great equalizer in life,

No matter what you feel it never lasts .......


I just realized i dont have to believe everything i think... what a concept?
 
are treatments for the symptoms, not the root cause.
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I have to disagree. Thinking is a conscious act. You do it deliberately. You have the ability to control your thoughts.

You are the cause of your thinking. You are the end to your thinking as well.
 
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