Are Your Thoughts Deceiving You?

I. We All Live in Stories We Create

A few days ago, during my driving test, I accidentally hit someone's car. In that split second, my brain instantly went into storm mode: It's over, I'll have to pay damages; what will the instructor think of me? I definitely won't pass this time; how will I explain this at home...

But the reality is, despite the high time/psychological cost, once it was over, that's just how it was. Life continued as usual - going home to be an on-call laborer/vibe coding/reading and other things still came in waves. "In a long enough timeline, we never really make mistakes because they're utterly insignificant."

Our brains are naturally story-selling machines. They can easily transform the simple fact "I scratched a car" into a thrilling disaster movie. And the most dangerous part is that we often believe it to be true.

This is so similar to Philip in "Of Human Bondage." His physical disability - a clubfoot - was magnified and distorted in his mind into the internal monologue "I'm disabled, everyone will despise me." This "story" imprisoned him for most of his life until he finally realized it was merely his imagination.

Think about it - how much of our anxiety comes from these never-ending internal dramas?

II. Redirecting Your Brain's Energy

Have you noticed that when we stop overthinking, that restless mental energy doesn't just disappear - it desperately needs an outlet?

The old chess player in "Pantheon" said: In prison, you need to keep your mind clear but not too sharp. That's why he liked games. Looking back to high school, I unexpectedly discovered that playing games/reading novels could help me maintain just the right level of alertness. My brain was occupied with complex information streams, leaving no room to worry. This actually found a constructive outlet for my brain's energy; otherwise, it would default to running those habitual anxiety programs: worrying about grades, fretting about the future, speculating about others' opinions. (Haha, but time management was exhausting - it felt great then, but now I need to exercise properly)

My recent experience developing an app proved this point as well. When I was fully focused on "what functionality do I want to implement," worries like "what if I can't make it work" had no foothold. When energy flows toward creation, anxiety naturally exits the stage.

The book's perspective is spot-on: The key is to clearly distinguish between your "active thinking" and what's just your brain's automatic "background processes."

III. Don't Be the Executioner of Your Own Ideas

In childhood, our minds were full of wild, imaginative ideas. Now, whenever a thought emerges, countless voices immediately jump up to refute it:

• "No time."
• "No money."
• "Too difficult."
• "Unrealistic."
• "What will others think?"

Unknowingly, we've become the executioners of our own inspiration. But honestly, nobody cares - just do what you want to do. It's just that with this mindset, you'll find there are too many things to handle, so you need to learn to distinguish your priorities.

When I wanted to make an app recently, my first reaction was: this process is too complicated. Even though I'd already tried using Claude to quickly build a working app, I still thought Apple's $99 developer fee was too expensive. Plus, I learned I needed to buy an Apple MacBook - I was like, wow, this is unbelievable. The whole setup cost me a lot of money, even though my Mac was second-hand. In the end, I actually built it. Though it was crude, that sense of creating something from nothing was incomparably real.

Now there are two ready for release. This morning I said it's been almost a week, why hasn't it been published yet? So the day before yesterday I sent an email to Apple asking what was going on. They said: "Oh, there's an EU regulation that requires confirming whether you're a trader." Finally, it's almost out.

Philip in "Of Human Bondage" also constantly limited himself. He repeatedly asked "What should I do?" but rarely asked "What do I want to do?" There's a detail in the book that deeply moved me: when he was studying painting in Paris, though he later discovered he had little talent, he said: "I learned to see" - he gained a new perspective for observing the world.

Sometimes, isn't that enough? We're often too obsessed with being "useful," forgetting that many beautiful things are precisely "useless." Reading, walking, daydreaming... these things seem useless but bring us joy, peace, and inspiration respectively.

IV. Don't Wait to Die in Your "Plans"

We're too easily trapped by "how to do it," falling into the trap of "over-preparation." Want to exercise? Must first study complex training plans. Want to read? Must first list detailed reading lists. Want to travel? Must first prepare perfect itineraries. As a result, meticulous plans become stumbling blocks to action.

My app development experience taught me a truth: often, you just start, and the path will reveal itself. Initially, I didn't know how to implement all the features; my only thought was to create a tool to help myself record ideas. Under the guidance of this goal, what technology to use, how to design the interface - the answers emerged one by one.

However, after understanding all this, a deeper question emerged: if thinking is so unreliable, what should we trust?

The answer is: trust your intuition after thoughts become quiet.

Take the app example again. Now there's rarely such a thing as "technical challenges" - it's just relatively difficult to implement. You just need to discuss more with AI to make it happen. Don't trap yourself in a chair, sitting at the computer racking your brains, then watering yourself with anxiety.

If you feel stuck, go for a walk, maybe take a recorder or your phone to capture sudden ideas that pop up. Now you can literally think of an app and it appears, as long as you have enough interactive experience with AI. It's precisely in that moment of mental stillness that an extremely simple solution emerges without warning.

This is perhaps what the book calls "inner wisdom." It's always been there, just usually drowned out by the noise of our thoughts.

V. Use "So What?" to Pop the Bubble of Desire

Recently, I learned a powerful question: "So what?"

This simple follow-up, like a needle, gently pops the bubble of desire. It reminds me of a viewpoint from "Pantheon": sometimes, deliberate "ignorance" is self-protection. We don't need to know everything or receive all information.

When our eyes are always looking outward, it's hard to hear our inner voice clearly. We all want to "be ourselves," but if we're unclear about what we really want, how can we "be ourselves"? I miss that feeling of freedom at school, having most of your own space and time.

It's like sitting by the roadside, watching cars (thoughts) drive by - you're just an observer, you don't have to jump on every car and go along with it.

The driving test experience might seem somewhat dramatic, like an "epiphany." I've discovered that true peace comes more often in small, daily forms. For example, when frustrated by a bug, I'll first stop and notice the voices in my head saying "I don't want to deal with this anymore" or "This is hopeless," then tell myself: "Oh, this is just a thought. I still have git!"