Thinking About Thinking

 

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Balanse na pangisip…

“Thinking too much leads to paralysis by analysis. It’s important to think things through, but many use thinking as a means of avoiding action.” –Robert Herjavec

Enough has been said about thinking too little. But there are also those who think too much. There is even an adage mentioning that if you spend too much thinking on a certain thing, you will never get it done.

When stalling occurs, you are actually trying to explore possibilities, you are giving yourself a leeway to ponder on a decision that you have to make. But what if you are stalling all the time?

Daniel Kahneman’s 2011 bestselling book “Thinking Fast and Slow” describes two distinct thinking systems: Fast thinking (system 1): which is automatic, intuitive, error-prone and used for most common decisions. Slow thinking (system 2): which is effortful, reasoned, more reliable and used for complex decisions.

Fast thinking is a primal survival mechanism that uses heuristics, or cognitive shortcuts, to quickly respond to threats. It is fast but those shortcuts are ultimately unreliable. In contrast, slow thinking requires considerable attention and delivers a more accurate understanding.

Based on these findings, we can say that Thinking Slow might give us the best decisions. But saving our lives and acting quickly can also be meaningful hence we have to Think Fast.

Fast and slow thinking is one of the most significant mental models listed on modelthinkers.com because it underpins so much of our modern understanding of behavioral science, behavioral economics, psychology, marketing and humanity.

Metacognition is the process of thinking about thinking. It’s about examining how we take in and process information, and figuring out ways we can do that more efficiently.

On a practical level, practicing metacognition can help us understand better what will work for us and what won’t.

Ergo, we have to think fast sometimes and think slow most of the time.

When the Brain Gets Distracted

 

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Hapit na mahigumad kay ya sa boot nagpanaw…

There was a bus full of students going home from school. The driver had a medical emergency and only one rider saw the event. He stood up to maneuverer the bus into a stop saving all on board. Why is it that he was the only one to see the event? All the rest were busy using mobile phones.

In his 1890 book “The Principles of Psychology,” psychologist and philosopher William James wrote that attention "is the taking possession by the mind, in clear and vivid form, of one out of what may seem several simultaneously possible objects or trains of thought.

Attention is the ability to actively process specific information in the environment while tuning out other details.

Distractions and multitasking are generally detrimental to learning and memory. The current experiments examined how distractions and divided attention influence one’s ability to selectively remember valuable information (Middlebrooks, 2017).

Research results show that there is really an effect to the brain when it is constantly distracted. The brain can only focus on one thing and when we subject it to multiple tasks, it adapts but will not function well.

According to cognifit.com, focused attention is the brain's ability to concentrate its attention on a target stimulus for any period of time. Focused attention is a type of attention that makes it possible to quickly detect relevant stimuli.

Attention is optimal when individuals are focused on one task at a time. However, with many competing sources vying for our attention, multitasking has become the norm for most [people] (Carrier, Cheever, Rosen, Benitez, & Chang, 2009).

While smartphones and related mobile technologies are recognized as flexible and powerful tools that, when used prudently, can augment human cognition, there is also a growing evidence that habitual involvement with these devices may have a negative and lasting impact on users’ ability to think, remember, pay attention, and regulate emotion.

Thinking or cognition is having glitches these days due to such distractions. People are so engrossed with the gadgets they do not mind that their ATTENTION and THINKING are degenerating.

Eyes Wide Open

 

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Nagpasingod sa pagka-marajaw…

One of the main reasons why we do the things that we do is to improve ourselves. We are constantly aiming for a better US.

The psychologist Carl Rogers mentioned that our personalities are composed of a “real self” (who we really are), and an “ideal self” (who we want to be). He posited that we are constantly motivated to pursue behaviors that bring us closer to our ideal self.

Given this thirst to personal development, the individual must have a strong sense of self-awareness.

Self-awareness is the ability to perceive and understand the things that make you who you are as an individual, including your personality, actions, values, beliefs, emotions, and thoughts (Cherry,2023).

There are many different ways to think about self-awareness, but four keys that are often mentioned included mindfulness, self-compassion, reflection, and feedback.

According to verywellmind.com, mindfulness allows people to become more aware of themselves in the present, while compassion allows them to do so without passing judgment on themselves. Reflection and feedback allow people to take what they have learned and improve themselves in order to achieve their goals and reach their full potential.

Thus, it is more productive to focus on self-improvement rather than try to change other people. Changing them is impossible. They are the ones in control of their lives and you have your own control over yours.

Someone who lacks self-awareness does not understand their own thoughts and feelings or how other people perceive them. People who lack self-awareness always have to be the center of attention, be in control, and frequently make negative comments without a filter (Mueller, 2023).

We are works in progress. Our personal development is our personal effort. Choosing how to react on others who lack self-awareness is a victory on its own. Reacting negatively to their disorganized thoughts might affect the journey to a better self.

Lurking outside your sphere of influence curtails progress. Focusing on your personal development leads you to a better place.

Counterproductive

 

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Para lang-on na hamok trabaho…

It is ironic, the ones who are unproductive are the persons who claim the most work there is.

Productivity is an individual, team, or organization’s ability to work efficiently within a given time to maximize output. It is also producing more goods or services per given amount of time. Yet, there are some people who dwell too much on trivial tasks and consider themselves productive.

From the productivity point of view, there are two types of work we do throughout the workday: meaningful work that needs to get done, and things that seem to be important tasks but in fact kill our efficiency: instant messaging, busywork, emails, and pointless meetings.

Then, there are those who feign doing tasks and allow others to notice them. In Psychology, this is called performative productivity.

Performative productivity is a term used to describe the practice of being productive for the purpose of displaying or showcasing it for others to see (Freedom, 2023). More and more people are focusing on creating an appearance of productivity, rather than actually being productive.

This is the dark side of this kind (or conceived) of productivity: Faking work because the end product isn’t the ultimate point—it’s all about how busy you seem to be.

Another form of false productivity is multitasking. Many people believe that multitasking is a productive activity because it allows them to do multiple things at the same time. However, research has shown that multitasking is actually detrimental to productivity because it reduces our ability to focus and perform tasks efficiently. When we multitask, our brain is constantly switching between different tasks, which can make it difficult to fully concentrate on any one task. This can lead to a decrease in the quality of our work and an increase in the amount of time it takes to complete tasks (Linkedin, 2022).

The horrifying thing to happen is when people who are faking productivity are also narcissists.

They [narcissists] can sow chaos behind the scenes, then appear as the savior when they swoop in and “solve” problems in the workplace. Many organizations have them, and they are the workplace's single most destructive force without exception.

As much as we can, we need “awareness” and process the information in our midst. Then, we do something. We cannot allow these people to discount our REAL efforts by letting them belittle us and deceive those we serve.

Leading to Entropy

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Di magpasagad kay madaot an pangisip…

Much has been said about selfishness, but this phenomenon continues to haunt us anywhere, everywhere.

Selfishness is central to many discussions and theories of human morality, yet its psychological nature remains largely overlooked. We often consider the evolutionary side of it not its psychological nature.

Selfish behavior is not a lack of concern for others, but heightened anxiety for the self. Driven by insecurity, a selfish person is forever grasping at more and more, in a desperate attempt to get close to their ideal version of themselves (Sharma, 2021).

There are many factors that can contribute to selfishness, such as cultural influences, genetic and neurobiological factors, and personality disorders. Some people may be more prone to selfishness due to their upbringing, environment, or mental health condition.

According to goodtherapy.org, some mental health problems can contribute to the development of selfishness. Many personality disorders, particularly antisocial personality disorder and narcissistic personality disorder, cause people to be so wrapped up in their own desires that they either do not notice or do not care about the needs of others.

Research suggests that selfish behaviors, such as lack of empathy or disregard for others' feelings, are associated with personality disorders like narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) (Miller et al., 2010). Individuals with NPD often exhibit self-centeredness, a grandiose sense of self-importance, and a lack of empathy, which can strain relationships and lead to emotional distress.

When people manifest such, there must be self-assessment since the mental disorder might mushroom to become an all-out illness.

Selfishness can fuel anxiety and depression. Constantly prioritizing one's desires over others' well-being can lead to feelings of isolation, guilt, and worthlessness, exacerbating symptoms of these disorders (Cramer, 2016).

In these turbulent times, there is really a need to slow down and be particular with one’s mental health. We might add more problems in the society than becoming a contributor of the greater good. 

Getting Dislodged

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Uno kaha kun magbungkag an imo pangisip?

Haven’t you notice that there are instances when your thoughts are in disarray? There are times when we have unguarded thought patterns and once we return to being aware, we feel that these bits and pieces of ideas are incoherent.

Our minds are thought generators, and may produce all kinds of thoughts, many of which may not be accurate. If remained unguarded, we may lead to development of biased ideas or uninformed generalizations.

Cognitive psychology is the study of how people think and process information (Cherry, 2022).

One of the features of the science of thinking is to be in control with our thought processes brought about by internal and external stimuli. This is termed as attention.

Attention is the ability to actively process specific information in the environment while tuning out other details. Attention is limited in terms of both capacity and duration, so it is important to have ways to effectively manage the attentional resources we have available in order to make sense of the world (Cherry, Susman, 2022).

In his 1890 book “The Principles of Psychology,” psychologist and philosopher William James wrote that attention "is the taking possession by the mind, in clear and vivid form, of one out of what may seem several simultaneously possible objects or trains of thought.

If the mind is distracted with multiple stimuli and the individual is not in “attention” to such distractions, the thinking process will be disrupted into incoherent ideas leading the mind to automatically place them in its trash bin. Meaning, no theory, concept or robust ideas can be formed inside the brain leaving cognition to malfunction.

Attention is not just about focusing on one particular thing; it also involves ignoring a great deal of competing information and stimuli. It allows you to "tune out" information, sensations, and perceptions that are not relevant at the moment and instead focus your energy on the information that's important.​

Persons who pay attention to the things going inside their minds most likely to become deep thinkers. They will then develop the skill of disciplining the mind to expand to the blue oceans (possibilities) and guard their next moves based on the ideas formed.

The illusion that attention is limitless has led many people to practice multitasking. Research has pointed out how multitasking seldom works well because our attention is, in reality, limited (Schrift, Zauberman, 2018).

Guarding our thoughts will make us more functional. The mind getting used to being distracted can lead to disorganized personalities. 

Antipathy

 

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Amoy tagalong na yaot daan an suyod sa pangisip.

You have met people whose mind-set is skewed. These persons always look for the mistakes of others for the sole reason of concealing their own lapses.

Antipathy is showing a strong dislike or opposition to another person.

There are persons in the human ecology who directly feel dislike to others and will automatically find their faults and convince others to dislike the ones they are targeting. These individuals often have conflicts with others when the subjects of their antipathy react.

Much more attention is generally paid to empathy and sympathy than to antipathy, indifference, and mixed feelings, as though people were prone to compassion and not to disdain and dislike (Plantinga, 2009).

We herald on empathy, a positive trait mostly done by persons who see others as their equal yet we understand that there are those whose plain aversion to others exist.

The Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potentials reported that antipathy is a dislike for something or somebody, the opposite of sympathy. While antipathy may be induced by experience, it sometimes exists without a rational cause-and-effect explanation being present to the individuals involved.

The exploration of a philosophical aspect for antipathy has been found in an essay by John Locke, an early modern 17th century philosopher. Anchored on this thesis, social scientists consider those with antipathy as persons with low agreeableness.

People with low agreeableness prefer confrontation over cooperation, those who scores low agreeableness will even be very aggressive towards others in order to get what they want. Rather than taking the time to praise a person’s work or someone’s home, low agreeability is common with those who like to criticize and single out opportunities to do so as well.

Conflict arise in the organization with the presence of persons with strong antipathy. Leaders must understand how to deal with these persons. Yet, if this is a developed character-trait, it must be the person to lead himself towards self-improvement.

If not, the individual may suffer the consequence when LEARNED persons plot to destroy the “villain” through calculated, legal and careful moves to target the Achilles Heels.