Ruminating vs. Writing
In this post:
• Emotional Intelligence• Writing vs. Ruminating• GPT3 and AI Writing Tools• Questions for your consideration• Resources• Engagement Opportunity• Jokes (centered, italics) scattered throughout; source at the end
Emotional Intelligence
Today’s installment of Mindset is a short dive into the powers of writing down your thoughts. It started when I saw a post on LinkedIn about a new book being released by Daniel Goleman, the researcher credited with bringing the concept of emotional intelligence into our collective consciousness. I’ve appreciated his work for nearly two decades and that term — emotional intelligence — is so broad and yet succinct that it’s one of the leading phrases (or concepts if you prefer) of modern times. Until he named it, intellectual intelligence and IQ ruled the world. We deferred to ‘smart people’ as if they had a more competent capacity to solve problems. With the devolution of tech platforms and the outrageous rise of hate speech and unabashed lying, we see where we are right now. Very smart people can do very bad things.Scientists predict human-level artificial intelligence by 2040.Maybe sooner if the bar keeps dropping.I often lobby for tech communities to diversify in more creative ways: not just the usual BIPOC or gender diversity, but experience and age diversity. The older I get, the more I realize I relied on intellectual intelligence (and the ability to learn facts and formulas) earlier in my life to define my work process and feed my sense of self-efficacy. Now, I rely far more on experience, intuition, and of course, emotional intelligence. It’s not fool-proof; I’ll write later about the challenges I’ve faced. But for now, I want to share one main tool I use to build my EQ: writing.By the way, Daniel’s new book is called Why We Meditate. As a lifelong meditator, I’m eager to read his deep-dive thoughts on this. It’s not a coincidence that writing and meditation require us to pause from our automatic thoughts and actions, in search of something new and valuable.
Writing vs. Ruminating
So now that you know how I arrived here, my focus right now is on ruminating vs. writing. One of the more unproductive habits we humans share is going back and forth, “chewing on things” without creating or finding a satisfactory resolution. Here’s a list of some words related to ruminating so you can orient yourself and your own thoughts in the discussion:
chew over and overspeculatingnavel-gazingdaydreamingself-analysisomphaloskepsismental masturbation
OK, I had to look up one of these words, so I’ll share the definition in case it’s new to you, too.omphaloskepsis: contemplation of one's navel as an aid to meditationMerriam-Webster, thank you for showing us the upside of navel-gazing, which has been labeled a ‘bad thing.’Meanwhile, I’ve mostly experienced the downside of ruminating: chewing an idea over and over again, equivocating ad nauseam (literally, to the point of having an upset stomach), taking me down where there is little light, pressuring me to decide one way or another. My mind can churn over the same tired thoughts (leading to the same tired emotions) without coming to a solution.In contrast, I prefer to write rather than ruminate. When I write, I am actually able to face these thoughts as a second entity of sorts. Seeing ideas on the page is like using a clarity filter on a photo: it’s much easier to see what’s out of whack.Joan Didion brilliantly and famously wrote:
“I write entirely to find out what I'm thinking, what I'm looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear.”
This written dialog with one’s Self stops the rumination cycle and miraculously, in my opinion, illuminates things we struggle with that are often just below the level of consciousness. The monkey mind loves to distract and keep us from consciousness; writing kicks that monkey to the curb. However, it can be useful to let the monkey mind speak, again, when writing. Then, you’ve captured those thoughts that may be undermining you, and you can address them one by one. Or, just delete it. I imagine you’ve heard the phrase, “write, write, delete.” It’s a great de-stressing tool.Writing has the ability to help us not fall for tropes and rationalizations. Hence, the great bumper sticker that’s been around for a few decades (and which I hope you’ve seen!) that says:Don’t believe everything you think.Because, your thoughts can be wrong. Intellectual intelligence is no remedy, if the emotional compass is broken. The pain, the fear, the anger — they lead us astray and the intellect can pile on with “proof” that only serves to further confuse and demoralize us.Why are artificial intelligences in movies always female?Because they’re never wrong.♀️
AI and GPT Lack Emotional Intelligence
And as such, I think they require more caution than the collective “we” are giving them. Since I started by calling out the deficiencies of tech platforms, largely built by young, white, males with little life experience and little obvious evidence of interest in building their EQ, (other than “making the world a better place” ) my final point is to call out the misguided over-dependence on artificial intelligence writing tools. I begrudge no one for wanting to create them or play with them — they do offer promise! But they are so deficient in emotional intelligence that at best they are like toddlers. We humans are still often lacking in emotional intelligence; how can an AI begin to function without it either, since the AI is fed by our own human frailties?One of the big bonuses for embracing human consciousness is that it can help us prevent repeating the same mistakes over and over again. So in simple terms, consciousness is the alternative to insanity. And yet, we are at the effect of problems being global while the causes and the solutions are individual. Who can stop a coder from writing AI programs? Not me, for sure. But I am subject to the results of these programs on a daily basis: social media and search platforms being prime offenders. TSA and many airlines are moving to facial recognition technology even though it’s limitations are well-established.This tweet caught my attention over the weekend:
And I commented:
I included this point in the discussion of “Writing vs. Ruminating” because writing from the POV of a three-year-old will likely not raise your consciousness. It will be more of a repetition exercise that embeds short-sighted observations (reflecting the neurological limits of a toddler) rather than actively seeking previously undiscovered ones. It’s the conscious brain that can entertain opposing ideas and dive below the surface for solutions.Here is my hope for AI: that in the hands of mature, life-centered people and companies, we can reduce the amount of mind-numbing and body-breaking work many humans (and animals) are required to do, that each of us may live in greater freedom, with access to more joy, than exists in a purely mundane, survival-centered existence.AI will never take away my job.Only an idiot would do my job.Jokes’ Source: 20+ Hilarious AI Jokes And Puns! | LaffGaff(Beware the onslaught of ads.)
Questions for your consideration:
Why is it so hard to see that computer-generated tools, fed from very limited and biased source materials, pose as the solutions we think we need?What are the pros and cons of writing your thoughts and feelings that you’ve experienced?How does ruminating affect you?Does high IQ impair building a high EQ? If so, how?I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
Resources:
On Therapeutic Writing:Jonah Hill’s Therapist Documentary: The Tools from ‘Stutz’ - Netflix TudumMorning Pages | Julia Cameron LiveOn following conscious AI experts:If you use Twitter and want to follow researchers who are ahead of the game of AI and its applications to modern life, I strongly recommend:Melanie Mitchell - @MelMitchell1Davis Professor at the Santa Fe Institute and author of “Artificial Intelligence: A Guide for Thinking Humans”Her Substack:Emily Bender - @emilymbenderProfessor at the University of Washington in the Department of Linguistics and the faculty director of the CLMS program and the director of the Computational Linguistics LaboratoryFrançois Chollet - @fcholletDeep Learning at Google, Creator of Keras, and author of “Deep Learning with Python.”His Substack:
Engagement Opportunity:
This week I am offering you readers a chance to share a financial contribution via my Venmo account if you find value in this. As I’ve stated previously, I’d really prefer to have this newsletter remain free and not have to beg for paid subscribers. I’m experimenting with other methods of ‘energy exchange.’ You can find me there as @Roxanne-Darling-1. My mobile number ends in 5554 as further verification. Or you can scan this code:
Thank you for joining me this week. I’m researching the Chat function here on Substack and hope to integrate that next week! I can talk (and write!) to myself all day long but I’m more interested in sparking an exchange of ideas with you. I know I will learn and raise my own consciousness.
Top Photo Credit: Photo by andreas kretschmer on Unsplash