My advice, if advice is what you’re looking for, is to distract yourself from all this stuff. It’s heavy stuff to deal with, and going too fast can be too much. I think this is generally true for dealing with any type of hard thing. If it’s overwhelming, force yourself away from it so you can’t be so overwhelmed. That might seem crazy from the inside perspective of worrying about this stuff, but it’s actually needed because my model of what happens to overwhelm folks is that there hasn’t been time to integrate these ideas into your mind and it’s complaining loudly that you’re going to fast (although it doesn’t say it quite that way, I think this is a useful framing). Stepping away, focusing on other things for a while, and slowly coming back to the ideas is probably the best way to be able to engage with them in a psychologically healthy way that doesn’t overwhelm you.
(Also don’t worry about comparing yourself to others who were able to think about these ideas more quickly with less integration time needed. I think the secret is that those people did all that kind of integration work earlier in their lives, possibly as kids and without realizing it. For example, I grew up very aware of the cold war and probably way more worried about it than I should have been, so other types of existential risks were somewhat easier to handle because I already had made my peace with the reality of various terrible outcomes. YMMV.)
integrate these ideas into your mind and it’s complaining loudly that you’re going to fast (although it doesn’t say it quite that way, I think this is a useful framing). Stepping away, focusing on other things for a while, and slowly coming back to the ideas is probably the best way to be able to engage with them in a psychologically healthy way that doesn’t overwhelm you
I do try! When thinking about this stuff starts to overwhelm me I can try to put it all on ice, usually some booze is required to be able to do that TBH.
My advice, if advice is what you’re looking for, is to distract yourself from all this stuff. It’s heavy stuff to deal with, and going too fast can be too much. I think this is generally true for dealing with any type of hard thing. If it’s overwhelming, force yourself away from it so you can’t be so overwhelmed. That might seem crazy from the inside perspective of worrying about this stuff, but it’s actually needed because my model of what happens to overwhelm folks is that there hasn’t been time to integrate these ideas into your mind and it’s complaining loudly that you’re going to fast (although it doesn’t say it quite that way, I think this is a useful framing). Stepping away, focusing on other things for a while, and slowly coming back to the ideas is probably the best way to be able to engage with them in a psychologically healthy way that doesn’t overwhelm you.
(Also don’t worry about comparing yourself to others who were able to think about these ideas more quickly with less integration time needed. I think the secret is that those people did all that kind of integration work earlier in their lives, possibly as kids and without realizing it. For example, I grew up very aware of the cold war and probably way more worried about it than I should have been, so other types of existential risks were somewhat easier to handle because I already had made my peace with the reality of various terrible outcomes. YMMV.)
Cheers for the reply! :)
I do try! When thinking about this stuff starts to overwhelm me I can try to put it all on ice, usually some booze is required to be able to do that TBH.