Typical TDHT Thought Pattern:
--> Focusing on task
--> Notice some sort of environmental (psychological, social, physical, etc.) nuance
--> Why is it that Y does X and X does Z? What if it were M, N and O instead?
--> Maybe it's because of A, B or C?
-- > What does this mean for me/society/the universe?
--> [Usually, later some sort of event happens that confirms bias] OMG! TRUE!
--> No wait, maybe it's not... maybe it only appears to be true because of H, J or G
-- > Wait, why did I just assume that? What if I assumed something else? I wonder if other people assume the same thing?
-- > Maybe it's that way because of D, E and F
--> Fuck! I got distracted again.
--> Back to task.
Rinse and repeat.
Is there anything you wish you thought about more instead? Why?
Yeah, I wish I was able to stay on task more. I wish I was able not to have my brain bombarded by (often) useless insights and thoughts. I say 'useless,' because I often do not re-visit them again, even though I might have spent an entire afternoon mulling over the finer details of my own little theories. I often find myself asking ( much, much later, after I've come to some sort of earth-shattering conclusion about some pointless aspect or another about people or the world or the entire universe, etc.) why do I even
care? This isn't helping me now. This isn't going to help me today, or tomorrow or even, quite possibly, ever.
My brain is a constant tug of war of practical action versus theoretical thought If you throw people and their problems into the mix, than that's just a guaranteed recipe for disaster.
What Do You Tell Yourself Most Often? What does your inner voice sound like?
I actually don't know what I tell myself most often, to be honest. I don't really talk
to myself in my head so much as there's a voice that talks
about stuff in my head. And it sounds/looks like a bunch of imagery with a voice-over narrator that sounds like I think I do when I speak aloud in real life.
As for my inner voice as a conscience, well, let me put it this way: my inner voice like one of those people who hangs around, but who doesn't offer up any helpful advice or input until you're already knee-deep in shit.Then it starts berating me like a banshee. Usually right when I want to go to sleep and I really, really need it.
What's the difference between 'thinking with your gut' and 'thinking with your head?' What do you think the difference is between following your intuition and following your feelings? Are they the same?
I actually don't know the answer to this question. That's why I asked.
I guess I approximate intuition with 'impressions.' They're not quite the same as feelings, as feelings (to me) appear to be more closely related to physical sensations than impressions. Impressions are more like images or snatches of sudden insight. You just
know someone isn't telling you the truth. You can't explain how you've arrived at the conclusion or why it's suddenly occurred to you; it doesn't come attached with feelings; it's neutral, it's there and there's nothing else to say or describe about it other than you just
know. It's like a miniature an a-ha! epiphany. It's... there. No preamble.
Thinking with your gut, on the other hand, is more like responding to things that you feel. Happiness. Anger. Resentment. Sadness. And then attributing those feelings to the stimuli and using it to justify something about it. I feel uncomfortable therefore this is bad; I feel calm and at peace, therefore that is good. But I find that discomfort/comfortable feelings are sometimes a catch-all. You don't really recognize the emotion (discomfort may mask jealousy, for example) at first blush and by reacting to it without examining it first perpetuates an inaccurate bias.
Lastly, thinking with your head is the easiest to describe, as it is linear and/or cause-and-effect thinking. This happens because of this, and you immediately follow up with giving plausible justification for it that you've derived from a previously gleaned solid set of data. You either take things apart, bit by bit, to see how it all works individually, or you acknowledge how each piece fits and behaves within a logical whole. It's like semi-conscious pattern recognition that comes with mini-footnotes attached that you can expand upon if asked.