CSCH.3090 Thinking Overthinking
We are often told not to "overthink" an important decision or to "overanalyze" a personal issue that is causing acute emotional stress. This course investigates the wisdom of that advice. If the aim of education is "critical thinking," then how do we decide what constitutes thinking too much? When does sustained analysis help to clarify our problems and enhance our pleasures, and when does it lead to morbid curiosity, excessive self-absorption, delusional obsession, or complete social paralysis? This course will explore this tension as it occurs in detective fiction, short stories, contemporary novels, literary theory, philosophy, psychotherapy, and film.
LA