title: thinking about thinking

date created: 2025.06.09
last modified: 2025.06.11

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in one of ploum's blog posts[0], he talks about playing a chess computer game in the 90s. when he turned the difficulty to a higher level, he started playing better:

"Even as a young teenager, I quickly understood the reason. With the setting set to "hard", the game would try harder to find a good move. On my 386 processor, without the mathematical coprocessor, this would take time. Several seconds or even one minute by turn. During that time, I was thinking, anticipating.

With the easiest setting, computer moves would happen immediately. I knew I had all the time I wanted but I was compelled to move fast. I could not take the time while the other side was immediately reacting to my moves."

...

i've never liked to answer questions quickly. i tend to overthink things, to question why some particular idea popped into my head first, and whether it's 'right'. i've always been frustrated by it. i can't do debates. i anything i say in the moment seems stupid to me afterwards (if i do manage to say anything at all). l'esprit de l'escalier is my big problem. 

i've mostly thought of this as a weakness, but it can be a strength too. as Derek Sivers says [1], your first reaction isn't your most honest, and is usually an outdated thought you came up with long ago and now use instead of thinking. these cached thoughts are usually 'good enough', but sometimes it's better not to take shortcuts.

so maybe i'm overthinking it, but maybe you're *underthinking* it.

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[0] A Society That Lost Focus,
https://ploum.net/2024-03-18-lost-focus.html

[1] https://sive.rs/slow