"You think too much."

I have heard that phrase more times than I can truly remember in my life, from a variety of people. Now, I have always had an inquisitive mind and was raised to explore and question unabashedly. I have no shame in wanting to think a lot, and for a long time, I never really understood how such a sentiment could come about or why someone could think someone else thinks too MUCH. I mean, after all, isn't thinking one of the hallmarks of the human species? How can one think too much? Then I realized that the phrase is entirely wrong at face value, but the spirit of the message underneath it is just as troubling.

A high quantity of thinking isn't a problem in and of itself. If anything, a LOW quantity of thinking is what's dangerous, when speaking of pure quantity in thinking--thinking too little poses far greater dangers than thinking "too much." In fact, the only time when thinking in high quantity is a problem is when the QUALITY of thinking is flawed. If you maintain an improper and fallacious perspective of the universe, then whatever amount of thinking you induce holds the potential to be damaging. If, however, you remain objective when and where you need to and come to the process of thinking from a perspective that is strong, healthy, and with as few flaws as one can manage, then there's no such thing as thinking too much. In fact, when you have the right quality of thinking, an increase in the quantity of thinking leads more quickly to the discovery of truth.

So what do people really mean when they accuse me (or you or anyone else) of thinking too much? My assessment is that they really are saying, "You're not thinking with the same perspective I am, and it's troubling me," or "Your thoughts are forcing me to re-examine my own preconceived beliefs of how the universe works, and it's troubling me." In other words, an accusation of thinking "too much" is really just an expression of someone saying that they're not ready to face up to a flaw in their own sense of "logic." What you begin to proffer challenges them and steps outside of their comfort zone, and as Dr. Sheldon Cooper so humorously put it, "It's called a 'comfort zone' for a reason."

I acknowledge that we all have our own perspectives on life, the universe, and many of the larger philosophical questions with which we struggle both as a collective whole and as individuals. Nevertheless, objective reality doesn't change (merely our understanding of it, which grows and adapts with the more we learn), and sometimes it's important to press and challenge when someone's attitude reflects an idea already proven to be false. But as a caveat, it's important to remember that we're all on our own individual journeys in life, and sometimes someone else simply isn't prepared for a shift in perspective, especially if it regards a particularly fundamental parameter of their world view. Sometimes, we have to remember that adaptation of perspective is a process, that changes more often than not happen in baby steps, and that perhaps the individual accusing us of thinking "too much" simply needs to see more details of the path by which we arrived at our own conclusions and to go exploring there. Sometimes it's just best if we do what we can to show our work as thoroughly as possible, then leave it posted for others to peruse at their leisure, trusting that either others will ultimately agree with us, or they will show us where WE went wrong.

In the end, though, it's not an issue of thinking "too much." As long as there are questions in the universe for us to answer, as long as there are realms to explore and envelopes to push, the quantity by which we think can never be too much, only too little.