"We think in generalities, but we live in detail." I read this line somewhere, and it captured something I've often felt but never been able to put into words. The gap between how we think and how we live.
"Living vs Thinking" ~ this disconnect is especially noticeable if you are someone who tends to overthink. The internet often portrays overthinking as a flaw, something to be "cured." But I'm not so sure this is universally true.
I've been noticing something lately: in our current world, a lot of decisions are already made for us. We outsource our music taste to YouTube/Spotify algorithms, our opinions to whatever's trending on short-form content feeds, our worldview to viral takes we scroll past in seconds. A large portion of society follows these pre-made decisions without much thought. And slowly, we're losing the habit of granular thinking, because we don't need to make the effort anymore. Someone else already thought, and the answer is readily available.
But here's what I'm working through: what if overthinking is just deep thinking? This makes me think about how deep thinking helps remove uncertainty, helps understand how things might unfold, which gives a sense of control, and which builds confidence. But all this overthinking has to be supported by data points.
The more data points you gather, the better your mental map becomes. It's like sharpening the resolution of a blurry photo; patterns start to emerge. With enough detail, your predictions get better. You stop reacting blindly and start anticipating.
Granular thinking doesn't mean getting stuck in the weeds. It means developing the ability to zoom in and out; to hold the big picture in mind while being grounded in the details. It's a muscle that takes time to build.
Whether you're debugging code, designing a product, or making a life decision, the more precisely you can think, by collecting facts, understanding context, and mapping outcomes, the more prepared you'll be. The quality of your thinking improves not just with experience, but with the granularity of your attention.
The point here is to be comfortable with your basics. Master the fundamentals ~ logic, observation, patience; and apply those basics to every decision you make. When you have a strong foundation, complex problems become manageable because you can break them down into their component parts.
"If I showed you too much of my method of working, you will come to the conclusion that I am a very ordinary individual after all." - Sherlock Holmes