Post by Admin on Oct 24, 2023 11:57:08 GMT
If thinking is rational, what makes overthinking irrational?
psyche.co/ideas/if-thinking-is-rational-what-makes-overthinking-irrational
A philosophical perspective on overthinking offers fresh insights into the mental processes involved in anxiety and OCD
‘Am I thinking too much?’ Those of us who have asked ourselves this before know how troublesome it can be to get stuck on some concern or question for a long time. And people who chronically overthink can become trapped in seemingly endless loops of worrying and ruminating, which can disrupt work, relationships and other aspects of their lives. While these observations are common enough, the phenomenon of overthinking is more complicated than it seems. Is there really such a thing as ‘thinking too much’? After all, thinking a lot seems like what one has to do in order to be rational. Indeed, the principles of rational thinking postulated by philosophers don’t find anything inherently problematic with overthinking.
Also, overthinking often doesn’t feel irrational, either. Quite the opposite, it can present as very rational. For instance, Rebecca Schiller describes the hard-to-control curiosity induced by her attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as an ‘inner scientist’ in her book A Thousand Ways to Pay Attention (2022). Similarly, some people who have obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) or generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) employ an inquisitive stubbornness that might be applauded if it were displayed by the likes of mathematicians or philosophers. Researchers have observed that people with GAD articulate personal rules such as ‘I feel I must focus on every conceivable solution to this worry,’ or ‘I must continue to worry until I have covered all the possible problems that this worry raises.’ This is strikingly similar to an epitome of rationality, the philosophical sceptic. From René Descartes to David Lewis, the sceptic is conceived as someone who isn’t satisfied until she has reached certainty.
So, is overthinking irrational, or not? Among philosophers as well as among people with mental illness, some feel driven by reason to think without stopping. Are they right – is it never irrational to overthink? Seeking an answer to this question, and seeing that finding one is less straightforward than it might appear, can throw a different and more empathic light on individuals with mental health conditions.
As a first pass, we can distinguish between two kinds of rationality: epistemic and practical. Epistemic rationality is concerned with what we ought to believe; it governs our thinking with respect to truth. Practical rationality is concerned with how we ought to act; it directs our activities relative to the goals we set for ourselves. Accordingly, saying that someone is showing practical irrationality means they are violating what they ought to do with respect to their chosen ends. Imagine that you want to be a more attentive parent, but are unwilling to allocate any more time to be with your child, even though you could. Since your means don’t align with your ends, you are being practically irrational. A charge of epistemic irrationality, on the other hand, is appropriate when a thinker has gone awry in their attempt to arrive at knowledge – eg, they’ve committed errors in logical reasoning, failed to adhere to the available evidence, and so on. Whether we consider a line of thinking rational or not, then, depends on what sort of rationality we’re talking about.
psyche.co/ideas/if-thinking-is-rational-what-makes-overthinking-irrational
A philosophical perspective on overthinking offers fresh insights into the mental processes involved in anxiety and OCD
‘Am I thinking too much?’ Those of us who have asked ourselves this before know how troublesome it can be to get stuck on some concern or question for a long time. And people who chronically overthink can become trapped in seemingly endless loops of worrying and ruminating, which can disrupt work, relationships and other aspects of their lives. While these observations are common enough, the phenomenon of overthinking is more complicated than it seems. Is there really such a thing as ‘thinking too much’? After all, thinking a lot seems like what one has to do in order to be rational. Indeed, the principles of rational thinking postulated by philosophers don’t find anything inherently problematic with overthinking.
Also, overthinking often doesn’t feel irrational, either. Quite the opposite, it can present as very rational. For instance, Rebecca Schiller describes the hard-to-control curiosity induced by her attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as an ‘inner scientist’ in her book A Thousand Ways to Pay Attention (2022). Similarly, some people who have obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) or generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) employ an inquisitive stubbornness that might be applauded if it were displayed by the likes of mathematicians or philosophers. Researchers have observed that people with GAD articulate personal rules such as ‘I feel I must focus on every conceivable solution to this worry,’ or ‘I must continue to worry until I have covered all the possible problems that this worry raises.’ This is strikingly similar to an epitome of rationality, the philosophical sceptic. From René Descartes to David Lewis, the sceptic is conceived as someone who isn’t satisfied until she has reached certainty.
So, is overthinking irrational, or not? Among philosophers as well as among people with mental illness, some feel driven by reason to think without stopping. Are they right – is it never irrational to overthink? Seeking an answer to this question, and seeing that finding one is less straightforward than it might appear, can throw a different and more empathic light on individuals with mental health conditions.
As a first pass, we can distinguish between two kinds of rationality: epistemic and practical. Epistemic rationality is concerned with what we ought to believe; it governs our thinking with respect to truth. Practical rationality is concerned with how we ought to act; it directs our activities relative to the goals we set for ourselves. Accordingly, saying that someone is showing practical irrationality means they are violating what they ought to do with respect to their chosen ends. Imagine that you want to be a more attentive parent, but are unwilling to allocate any more time to be with your child, even though you could. Since your means don’t align with your ends, you are being practically irrational. A charge of epistemic irrationality, on the other hand, is appropriate when a thinker has gone awry in their attempt to arrive at knowledge – eg, they’ve committed errors in logical reasoning, failed to adhere to the available evidence, and so on. Whether we consider a line of thinking rational or not, then, depends on what sort of rationality we’re talking about.