Overanalyze

When I overanalyze something, I reach a desert like impasse. Meaning I’ve reached a point where I can go in whichever direction I’d like, although I won’t know where I’m going–or if it’s the right one.

Over analyzing a situation can lead us to question every facet of a topic or a situation. It’s like every road leads to a dead end, because we can see the flaws in every road. Nothing seems viable, so we’re stuck at an impasse.

When I used to take tests in school, there’d be multiple choice questions with a, b, c, d, with the additional choice of a and c, or a, b, and c, or all of the above. There’d be times when I’d reach the conclusion that any of the options could be valid–depending on how each is looked at. Often times, it was the wording that threw me off, or the answer choices being half true or equivocal in meaning. Or it could be that the answer hinged on what was meant by a certain word, or the context it was meant to be in.

Strangely enough, I heard from one of my teachers that your first choice was often the right one, and that when you overanalyze something (or pick your second choice), it was wrong. I’m not sure if I agree with it 100%, but I do understand the rationale behind it. Our first choice is based on our intuition, and our second choice is based more on our analysis of the options. There are merits to both, but our intuition isn’t 100% right, and neither is our analysis of the options.

At some point, we must concede that we’re making a risk by the choice(s) we make (if it’s a question that’s unclear or dubious). There is a probability that we could end up being right or wrong by our choice, and won’t know until we’ve made it. But if we choose to remain at an impasse, we will certainly not know which it was.