Wisdom vs. Smarts

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A new study has found that the average human has more than 6,000 thoughts per day. Another study out of the University of Oregon found that most people can only entertain four separate thoughts at once, and this number was not dependent upon the simplicity or complexity of each thought. The number of thoughts we have says little about our intelligence or capacity for critical thinking, although there is some research backing the notion that overthinkers may be more creative and intelligent than people who don’t overthink, so long as their overthinking does not spiral into anxiety.

Anyway, the reason I’ve been interested in thinking and thoughts is multifaceted. First, the origin of thoughts is murky at best. The originality of thought is contested. The paralysis experienced by overthinkers is a widely agreed upon and known phenomenon. People who seem to have very few thoughts have always intrigued me: “what’s going on up there?” I wonder. And when I ask, the answer “not much,” always seems unbelievable. There are so many things to think about that I can’t understand the lack of thought. My propensity to think a lot or very deeply or obsessively says less about my intelligence and more about my thinly-veiled neuroticism, but I digress.

The reason I’m writing about this particular topic is twofold: one, because I…