Obsessive and Rigid Thinking

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No this is definitely true for me. I try to look into the fear and see, what is its source? I think that it is often based in pessimism about what is possible. It is easy to forget that each person has basically an endless amount of potential for ways they can develop, or so I believe. I have read about the "incremental" and "fixed" theories of intelligence/ability that Carol Dweck developed, and this seems to be close to what I see. Not to say that anyone can do anything, and certainly not everything, but probably most things and surely enough to provide a meaningful and fulfilling life. Or at least it seems that way. So I'm trying to develop the habit to shift from the mindset of "this feels hard / maybe I am lacking" to "new things are challenging / there is something to learn here".

Also, being genuine. Sometimes I retreat in a "shy shell" and start giving stock answers when I feel nervous or insecure, and people lose interest and walk away. Lately I am trying to stay present and stay open more, and accept whatever happens. I've had some good experiences with this, but sometimes the habit is very tough to overcome!



This sounds really interesting. I will have to think about this way of thinking, and take inspiration from your description. I think I can relate to what you say about it becoming overwhelming and isolating; I think I have experienced that kind of thing before. Lately I seem to have adopted the view that I will probably not find any final answer, and I think that has helped me in that regard.

I discovered I have had this problem.

I discovered that there is a "staright line issue", one option, need alternatives.

I had a non-standard disgnosis of aspergers traits, with dyspraxia, consisting of a 10 minute chat.

I will give you my personal perspective. Years ago I suffered from severe headaches. I saw the world falling apart and couldn't see any future for this planet. But my personality type is an INTJ and as a result I began to realize my "circle of control" and my "circle of influence" is extremely large, many times that of a normal NT [when you look at it from a Stephen Covey perspective]. Therefore I began expanded my "circle of concern". Nothing was off the table. But there was one problem. I made one observation and wrapped it into a rule. Jimmy's rule number 1.

THE 40% RULE
In our world, newspapers are in the business of selling papers. Our television news is in the business of selling airtime. Our social media provider are in the business of selling hits. This mission can sometimes be at odds with telling the truth. The truth is many times distorted. Many normal people are being led around like sheep to the slaughter.

Most normal people have learned herd instinct. They travel with the herd. If their teachers teach them something they accept it without question. If a politician says, “the debate is over” or “there is a consensus”, they accept this as true in blind faith. They do this for convenience. But this normal approach also has a severe weakness.

Around 40% of what you read, watch, or interact with is outright false or a misleading narrative.

On one day, the New York Times might publish an article titled Latest research indicates coffee is bad for you and drinking it will cause you to die prematurely.

The very next day another newspaper publishes an article titled Coffee is beneficial and scientist have proven that drinking it will extend your life.

So which headline is true and which is false?

The correct answer is probably both headlines are somewhat true. However, as first stated by Paracelsus, the #1 principle in toxicology is, “The dose makes the poison.” This means that below a certain dose (probably about 4 cups a day) coffee is beneficial to drink and above that threshold it can be destructive. In general, if you drink a few cups of coffee a day or not, it doesn’t really matter in extending or curtailing your life expectancy.

Consider even drinking too much water will kill you. Severe cases of hyponatremia (drinking too much water at once) can lead to water intoxication, an illness whose symptoms include headache, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, frequent urination and mental disorientation; and this condition can prove fatal. So do you really need to put a warning label on water! Or as in California, a Los Angeles Superior Court Judge just ruled that coffee must carry a warning label! Goodbye Starbucks!

So as a result, I can take everything I hear, read, watch with "a grain of salt". I just take in gobs of information and sort in my own mind what is true and what is false. I am looking for the real truth of things. Because all the Mysteries of Life are like a giant jigsaw puzzle. All the pieces will fit correctly in the end. Also because I am an INTJ, the only opinion that I cherish is my own.

As a result my headaches have stopped and I solve problems both great and small.

That's definitely a problem I have. Thinking black and white. Fixating on things. I do have both autism and OCD. It's difficult to separate them.

Same here except I was also diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder which also involves black & white thinking. I doubt I'd be diagnosed with BPD now thou cuz I was goring through a bad psychotic depression at the time over my 1st relationship falling apart & a lot of the BPD symtoms did improve when my depression got better. Anyways my black & white thinking & fixating has gotten a little better. I would guess some of it is due to my BPD symptoms improving, getting on OCD medication, & just learning & coping with Aspergers better as well as being in a better environment. I'm not saying I still don't have problems with black & white thinking & fixating but they're not as bad as they used to be.