# Is deep thinking beneficial or a waste of time?



## ruinMYlife (Nov 23, 2008)

For the past few years I have been starting to think deeper about life and trying to find a right path (if there is one).

I started having conversations with my online friend about it and I was wondering if I'm just adding unnecessary anxiety or fear into her life.

Is there any point in looking past the illusions in life and trying to find a right path? Or should we just distract ourselves with as much bull**** until we potentially die?


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## surviving (Oct 2, 2015)

I think deep thinking is awesome and when you have the time to do it, do it. I think a lot of the times, we often get caught up with our own lives and trying to live it, we forget to take a step back and just think about things. The benefit is yet some air but the con I guess would be where you are at right now, that you've been deep thinking for a while about life and everything is so abstract, while at the same time, trying to make sense of that abstractness. 

While I think it's important to have those conversations, I think it's also important to do something you want to do with you life like a hobby. Not as a distraction but as something you truly enjoy and find other people that can connect with you.


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## ruinMYlife (Nov 23, 2008)

surviving said:


> I think deep thinking is awesome and when you have the time to do it, do it. I think a lot of the times, we often get caught up with our own lives and trying to live it, we forget to take a step back and just think about things. The benefit is yet some air but the con I guess would be where you are at right now, that you've been deep thinking for a while about life and everything is so abstract, while at the same time, trying to make sense of that abstractness.
> 
> While I think it's important to have those conversations, I think it's also important to do something you want to do with you life like a hobby. Not as a distraction but as something you truly enjoy and find other people that can connect with you.


Thanks a lot for the reply^^


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## a degree of freedom (Sep 28, 2011)

What do _you _think?


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## Skeletra (Aug 30, 2012)

I think it's healthy to have deep toughts.
I also think the distractions we choose can have a deeper meaning, and I think those are important as well. It just depends how big your picture is.


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## nonethemore (Oct 18, 2010)

Would you rather live live "happily", knowing all the while that you're distracting yourself with illusions? If the answer is no, then yes, you would need to think deeply and it wouldn't be a waste of time at all, in the grand scheme of things.


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## ruinMYlife (Nov 23, 2008)

senkora said:


> What do _you _think?





Skeletra said:


> I think it's healthy to have deep toughts.
> I also think the distractions we choose can have a deeper meaning, and I think those are important as well. It just depends how big your picture is.





nonethemore said:


> Would you rather live live "happily", knowing all the while that you're distracting yourself with illusions? If the answer is no, then yes, you would need to think deeply and it wouldn't be a waste of time at all, in the grand scheme of things.


I've started to feel like we (society) are all stuck in a "matrix" way of thinking and there could be a path that we're not seeing. How is it that we have all been placed on this giant floating rock in space and it's normal for us to not think twice about it? Instead we live day to day focusing on things that have no greater meaning to our lives and that will just distract until death. Is there a reason or purpose our minds work that way (intentional?)

I can't even watch movies/TV or take actors seriously anymore because the illusion is gone for me.

I feel like we've been brainwashed to accept death. I just don't see how it's possible for an afterlife to exist when 100 billion people have died on this planet. So to me it feels like this is our 1 and only chance to be a part of this universe. I think science is capable of doing anything. The universe is so massive that there really is room for anything our minds can imagine.

When I ask if thinking like this is a waste of time, it's because I'm trying to find out if theres anything I can do to be a part of the unthinkable. There are things in life that I could enjoy like learning animation, dance, MMA, but those all take years and years and I need to find out if there is the "right" path that I should be putting all of my time and focus into.

If I didn't have S/A I wouldn't even think twice about this. I hate that at the moment I'm barely doing much because I feel like time is running out.


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## Skeletra (Aug 30, 2012)

ruinMYlife said:


> I've started to feel like we (society) are all stuck in a "matrix" way of thinking and there could be a path that we're not seeing. How is it that we have all been placed on this giant floating rock in space and it's normal for us to not think twice about it? Instead we live day to day focusing on things that have no greater meaning to our lives and that will just distract until death. Is there a reason or purpose our minds work that way (intentional?)


I think it's because we as humans tend to see the here and now problems that need. Or that they're somewhat focused on a set goal to achieve.



> I feel like we've been brainwashed to accept death. I just don't see how it's possible for an afterlife to exist when 100 billion people have died on this planet. So to me it feels like this is our 1 and only chance to be a part of this universe. I think science is capable of doing anything. The universe is so massive that there really is room for anything our minds can imagine.


But why don't you accept death? Death is a part of our existence. Everything has an end. That doesn't trivialise our current existence. Do you fear death?
Personally I don't mind if there is no afterlife. Why would that impact what we have now? Why would the quantity of people to ever die disqualify a separate metaphysical realm of space?



> When I ask if thinking like this is a waste of time, it's because I'm trying to find out if theres anything I can do to be a part of the unthinkable. There are things in life that I could enjoy like learning animation, dance, MMA, but those all take years and years and I need to find out if there is the "right" path that I should be putting all of my time and focus into.
> 
> If I didn't have S/A I wouldn't even think twice about this. I hate that at the moment I'm barely doing much because I feel like time is running out.


You can't know. You just have to gamble on one and hope for the best. That said, you can change your mind, though that comes with concequenses.
Try to figure out what you want to do the most. You can try to combine those things and learn something on your off time as well.
Are you sure you wouldn't be thinking twice if you didn't have SA? What makes you think that?


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## Aribeth (Jan 14, 2012)

Waste of time, trust me. I always end up deep thinking about things and it never actually helps anything , and it's never useful. The less you think, the less time you waste.


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## a degree of freedom (Sep 28, 2011)

ruinMYlife said:


> When I ask if thinking like this is a waste of time, it's because I'm trying to find out if theres anything I can do to be a part of the unthinkable. There are things in life that I could enjoy like learning animation, dance, MMA, but those all take years and years and I need to find out if there is the "right" path that I should be putting all of my time and focus into.


I'm definitely sympathetic to the concern. I'm still not entirely certain there isn't something I should be doing. If you've ever seen Steins;Gate, the letter Suzuha writes back to Okabe after travelling to the past and only remembering why she went late in life when it was too late resonated a lot with me. But I guess the reason we watch such things or read about them or however we take in the possibility for richness in the world can be in part to learn something of ourselves and the world. You can derive a little or lot from any number of things you do, just depending on yourself.

If you want to explore the range of what can be or has been thought, maybe study philosophy. There's so much profound thought out there that has been recorded, even professional philosophers don't really understand it all. There's too much, or maybe more accurately, it's too layered. But studying it in college as I did long enough to earn a BA in it I still certainly had many thoughts and revelations I'm certain I'd have never dreamed of by myself. There have been some spectacularly brilliant philosophers throughout time, people who make you just shake your head trying to fathom how another human being could have possessed such intellect. So there is probably a lot that has been thought before that maybe does not get thought by more than a single person in any given year. That doesn't mean it isn't worthwhile or is irrelevant to the world.

This isn't really the reply I wanted to make, but I have to be off.


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## WillYouStopDave (Jul 14, 2013)

Nope. I think most of the happy people in the world are stupid people who don't think a lot about anything other than just getting through days. I think people who believe deep thinking about everything is a great thing are the people who end up thinking too much and knowing too much and realizing there's no real point to anything. It's a mind trap. You ask a few cool questions and get a few interesting answers but that simple act opens up exponentially more and harder questions until you can't think straight.


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## ruinMYlife (Nov 23, 2008)

Skeletra said:


> I think it's because we as humans tend to see the here and now problems that need. Or that they're somewhat focused on a set goal to achieve.
> 
> But why don't you accept death? Death is a part of our existence. Everything has an end. That doesn't trivialise our current existence. Do you fear death?
> Personally I don't mind if there is no afterlife. Why would that impact what we have now? Why would the quantity of people to ever die disqualify a separate metaphysical realm of space?
> ...


Thank you for sharing, there is a lot I need to think about when it comes to death. I kind of am scared of the idea of not existing anymore. I can't seem to make up my mind on it. So far to me it seems like either death is the ultimate answer, or trying to find a way to survive is. Every time I think of death and non existence it does frighten me but so does living forever.

I'm not really sure if it was S/A made me think this way. I think maybe it was just the way my mind worked from young that gave me S/A because I've always felt the same since I was a kid. It just seems if I didn't have S/A then I would be surrounded by the illusions that I don't see anymore. I'm not sure if that even has any positives to it.


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## SplendidBob (May 28, 2014)

I suspect you don't have much of a say in the matter  - If you are prone to thinking you likely can't do much about it. The best you can likely do is to direct it in positive directions.


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## Azazello (May 12, 2013)

splendidbob said:


> I suspect you don't have much of a say in the matter  - If you are prone to thinking you likely can't do much about it.


This reminds me of HARRISON BERGERON by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.. Every time I see someone with big *** headphones that's what I think of.


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## twitchy666 (Apr 21, 2013)

*Indeed*

I get flat out on bed when I'm ever bored or lost.

I let mind do thinking... theory... what next.. what I doing here...

within 5 seconds I bounce into action and get onto something new to do

If that doesn't happen for a while I sleep a few hours which I think is very beneficial; like a new lease of life
surprised what the time is. The cycle repeats enduringly if nothing big comes up. Bed again


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## 2Milk (Oct 29, 2014)

I think it's a waste of time. I always just end up depressed or end up wasting time.


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## SplendidBob (May 28, 2014)

Azazello said:


> This reminds me of HARRISON BERGERON by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.. Every time I see someone with big *** headphones that's what I think of.


Hadn't read that before  ty.


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## funnynihilist (Jul 29, 2014)

The luckiest people in the world are those who have never had a deep thought in their lives.
Ignorance is truly bliss.
Not to mention that this society detests deep thinking because it gets in the way of making money and "feelz".

Tip:always play dumb with people unless you know them very well. Even then those people will come to resent your deep opinions and thoughts.


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## Wirt (Jan 16, 2009)

In high school I took everything at face value and never thought about things very deeply. Then I got into astronomy in a big way at the start of college and was so damn glad I did. It opened my mind more to think about things. Not to say I'm smart, but I do analyze whatever I CAN comprehend

Like funnynihilist said, ignorance is bliss. But I have family members who don't analyze and think about things deeper and see what a big affect (and ****ing annoyance) it has on the people around you to be like that


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## Sashjay (Jan 1, 2013)

I hate how I think about things so in depth, honestly I wish I was ignorant. My life would be so much easier because, yeah, there really is no point in being a deep thinker 'cause -at least for me- it causes needless suffering before we all end up in the ground anyway. 

The one good thing about having deep thoughts, is that it's caused me to be vegan. Because the worst thing that can happen in life isn't dying, it's suffering, I know that too well. And knowing that makes it so I don't cause needless suffering to other conscious beings.

(Sorry if my words are a jumble, my thoughts are hard for me to organise.)


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## M0rbid (Jan 11, 2011)

its like OCD.... unhealthy.


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## ugh1979 (Aug 27, 2010)

To all the people in this thread who are bemoaning deep thinking because it makes them depressed etc, I totally understand why, especially since you are members of this forum, but when you overcome the negative aspects of deep thinking which can be SA and depression, it's wonderful!  I did.

I'd take it over being a 'shallow' thinker any day, and I love how I can process all the deep but awesome philosophical and scientific ideas for example that those who are more 'shallow' thinkers don't think about.

Deep thinking is part and parcel of being a more intelligent person than average, so take some solace from that at least.


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## ugh1979 (Aug 27, 2010)

M0rbid said:


> its like OCD.... unhealthy.


It's only unhealthy if it makes you think in an unhealthy way, such as focusing on negative past events too much.

I found mindfulness mediation to be very helpful to stop the chain reaction that used to often lead me down deep dark trains of thought.


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## calichick (Jul 30, 2010)

"Do you always think this much, Charlie?"
"Is that bad?"
"Not necessarily. It's just that sometimes people use thought to not participate in life."

-Perks of Being a Wallflower


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## blue2 (May 20, 2013)

Deep thinking is like deep sea diving ya have to go deep to find cool new stuff but you also might find a monster you might drown and if ya come up to fast your head will explode


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## RockNroses (Aug 5, 2015)

It depends on you, if you can "control" your thoughts and don't get affected by the negativity of reality then it's awesome to be so aware of life, but there are lots of people who can't handle that much ....


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## coeur_brise (Oct 7, 2004)

Sometimes. Delving deep into something can either magnify the picture to reveal more..or just give you a huge close up that says nothing.


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## WillYouStopDave (Jul 14, 2013)

RockNroses said:


> It depends on you, if you can "control" your thoughts and don't get affected by the negativity of reality then it's awesome to be so aware of life, but there are lots of people who can't handle that much ....


 And so it goes. The beguiling path that meanders into madness and despair. At some unknown point way down the line you find that you've brought yourself to a place from which you can never leave.

Time will break you whether you allow it to or not.


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## Scrub-Zero (Feb 9, 2004)

Deep thinking might save your life.


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