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Stop Thinking!

ygolo

My termites win
Joined
Aug 6, 2007
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5,981
I can't tell you how many times I've heard that.

Anyone else find this request/command, similar to "Stop breathing!"? :yes: :doh: :cry:
 

runvardh

にゃん
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Jun 23, 2007
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sx/so
I can't tell you how many times I've heard that.

Anyone else find this request/command, similar to "Stop breathing!"? :yes: :doh: :cry:

my responce (whether voiced or not) is "then entertain me!"
 

The_Liquid_Laser

Glowy Goopy Goodness
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ENTP
Usually when a person says that they want you to come to a decision. It's not a T/F thing. It's a P/J thing.
 

runvardh

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Ah, the P/J think I just say "bite me" then continue on my thinking
 

Arandur

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I tell myself that all the time. My brain NEVER SHUTS UP :wacko:
 

Siúil a Rúin

when the colors fade
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Usually when a person says that they want you to come to a decision. It's not a T/F thing. It's a P/J thing.
Is that what you mean ygolo? There are also people who just like to be deep in thought and others just can't imagine what they're thinking about. In that case they are often scolded for not doing anything 'useful'.

I'm not certain if this has happened to me a significant number of times. I'll have to think about that.
 

JivinJeffJones

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Apr 25, 2007
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3,702
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My problem is re-evaluating what I'm saying as I'm saying it. It frequently leads to me arguing the other point of view with myself for a while then trailing off into silence, staring bemusedly into space, caught in a limbo of balancing perspectives. Meanwhile the person I was talking to sits there quietly planning exit strategies. I need to pick an opinion for the day and save reevaluations of that opinion until the end of the day.
 

Maverick

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Just tell them that most problems in this world probably stem from too little rather than too much thinking
 

heart

heart on fire
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May 19, 2007
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For some reason, people like this (buttinsky types) in my offline life assume that I do not think and that I am "lights on no one home", flatline when I am really thinking, so I never get this version of this.

People usually give me the "snap out of it and wake up!" version. ;)
 

Athenian200

Protocol Droid
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I've never heard anyone say I think too much. I think that there isn't any such thing, because learning and discovering new perspectives is always worthwhile in my book. If anyone said it, I would just say "No, I don't want to stop thinking. You have no right to demand that."
 

JivinJeffJones

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Probably the best riposte would be to say "Sorry, I'll try to stop", and then respond to every subsequent question with a variation of "Burrrrrrrrrrr?", "shooodoofoosdffs", "minidininianananana" and light drooling.
 

prplchknz

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Messages
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yupp
Sometimes I'll forget I'm thinking, and my mind will begin to think about how wonderful it is not to be thinking. Then I'll relize that I'm still thinking, I'm just thinking about not thinking.


I realized that probably made no sense. I'll try to explain to you what I mean. Lets say you're sitting their letting your mind drift, not really focused on one particular thing at the moment. You imagine different scenerios,one of them is total blankness and you imaging blackness in your head. But it's not a bad and evil blackness, it a good and calm one. You have no real thoughts except "It's nice to not be thinking for once, I wonder how long this will last." Then you get in a philosophical debate with yourself about nothing and how doesn't exist, but it does because it exists as an Idea. But ideas aren't physical so it can't exist on those terms.
 
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heart

heart on fire
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Messages
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There is almost never a time of day or night that some thought(s) is not running through my mind, it is very hard for me to clear my mind completely.
 

The_Liquid_Laser

Glowy Goopy Goodness
Joined
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Is that what you mean ygolo? There are also people who just like to be deep in thought and others just can't imagine what they're thinking about. In that case they are often scolded for not doing anything 'useful'.

I'm not certain if this has happened to me a significant number of times. I'll have to think about that.

I think you may have a point. Perhaps it is not just a P/J think but rather P/J, E/I and S/N thing. Ironically the command to "stop thinking" has little to do with T/F though.
 

ygolo

My termites win
Joined
Aug 6, 2007
Messages
5,981
There are also people who just like to be deep in thought and others just can't imagine what they're thinking about. In that case they are often scolded for not doing anything 'useful'.

It's more like this. I actually don't have much of an issue with indecision.

These usually come from the same kind of people that say, "Smile! It's not that bad." I look at them for a few seconds with my undivided attention and they edit that out of possible things to say to me in the future.

Yup. That seems to be true. Usually, they are frowning themselves, while I am just expressionless.

Probably the best riposte would be to say "Sorry, I'll try to stop", and then respond to every subsequent question with a variation of "Burrrrrrrrrrr?", "shooodoofoosdffs", "minidininianananana" and light drooling.

Excellent suggestion!

Sometimes I'll forget I'm thinking, and my mind will begin to think about how wonderful it is not to be thinking. Then I'll relize that I'm still thinking, I'm just thinking about not thinking.


I realized that probably made no sense. I'll try to explain to you what I mean. Lets say you're sitting their letting your mind drift, not really focused on one particular thing at the moment. You imagine different scenerios,one of them is total blankness and you imaging blackness in your head. But it's not a bad and evil blackness, it a good and calm one. You have no real thoughts except "It's nice to not be thinking for once, I wonder how long this will last." Then you get in a philosophical debate with yourself about nothing and how doesn't exist, but it does because it exists as an Idea. But ideas aren't physical so it can't exist on those terms.

Have this happen to me also.

There is almost never a time of day or night that some thought(s) is not running through my mind, it is very hard for me to clear my mind completely.

Same here. I think the only times are when I am asleep.

I think you may have a point. Perhaps it is not just a P/J think but rather P/J, E/I and S/N thing. Ironically the command to "stop thinking" has little to do with T/F though.

Yes. I have seen it used in all sorts of contexts. It is most sruprising when it comes from an INxP friend of mine.

Probably the clearest translation in my life is "Stop being/sounding intellectual/philosophical." Even though I'm certainly not trying to sound or be a particular way.
 

niffer

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...I never get that. Rather, I get the opposite.

"THINK, Jennifer."

"USE YOUR HEAD."
 

Ghost of the dead horse

filling some space
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Sep 7, 2007
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ENTJ
I hear that sometimes, and I liken that comment to "dont try so hard".

Last time I assumed just that and replied that I think automatically, and it requires no effort to get done. We got sidetracked from the main topic, but the conversation continued nice and fun. My comment did slightly upset one ESFJ in the same table tho.

Wonder what might have offended him? Perhaps he thought me as boastful, and that people DO need to think about thinking in order to think, in his opinion. I'm not like that. I need to think about practical things, which some other types just do straight away. I can forgot myself in a book or web forum for hours before noticing I have to do something practical. Sometimes when I do notice, I postpone the action.

I feel that comments to stop thinking are an invasion to my true self, even tho it would sometimes be useful. I have trouble sleeping unless dead tired, because my thoughts keep me awake.

People need to know that expressing my thinking is natural to me, so they won't try to stop it. People are after all sensible enough not to force people into molds they dont fit into.
 
S

sammy

Guest
Thread necromancy, yes, but wow... I hear "Stop Thinking" all the time!

It's become such an issue now that I prefer not to share my thoughts with people previously close to me. It hurts because those same people once valued my analytical abilities quite a lot, in fact, it's what attracted them to me in the first place! That I was willing to discuss issues in a calm fashion instead of resorting to overreacting... alas, trying to be someone you are not or suppressing parts of yourself doesn't work for long either so those friends have gone on the back burner of my priorities in life. :/

It's funny though, because people especially say it when I'm in the process of analyzing point by point in a completely non-emotive manner, how they have used/abused/maltreated/misunderstood/etc me. Can't seem to handle the truth of issues when they're delivered in a way they cannot resolve with a simple tissue paper handed over or a hug :rolli:
 
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