Uncertainty and our Universe

Consider this a brief escape from your worries and fears. I must warn you that what follows may be a bit philosophical, but its relevance will become clear by the end. Many people dealing with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder—whom I refer to as 'over-thinkers'—often find themselves trapped by the uncertainty of the world around them. They get caught in an endless cycle of "what if" questions, unable to break free. While they know these thoughts are hypothetical, they still find it hard to ignore them. Interestingly, this awareness shows that they can distinguish between what is real and what is not. Let’s clarify what we mean by reality. Reality is what exists here and now, something we can perceive with our five senses. For example, your reading of my words doesn’t make you 'real' to me, as I cannot verify your existence through my senses. This brings to mind the classic philosophical question: if a tree falls in a forest and no one is there to hear or see it, did it really fall? Existence, however, goes beyond what we can immediately sense. It includes everything that has been, is, and will be, and can be verified through both our senses and our reasoning. So, while over-thinkers may struggle with the concept of existence, they are often very aware of reality, which is a positive sign. I believe that only those who crave certainty—our over-thinkers—have the potential to excel in fields like mathematics, which is all about precision. This desire for certainty drove great minds like Albert Einstein to seek universal laws, leading to his famous equation, E=MC^2 However, when Dr. Max Planck introduced the idea of quantum mechanics, suggesting that the universe is not just black and white but includes shades of gray, it challenged Einstein’s worldview. He struggled to accept this uncertainty, even going so far as to seek ways to disprove it. The key point here is that uncertainty is not a flaw in our universe; it is a fundamental part of it. The real question is not how to eliminate uncertainty, but how to make the most of it. Imagine a world where the sun rose from a different direction every day—such chaos would be unimaginable! That said, uncertainty does not control us. The field of probability helps us understand and navigate this unpredictability. Those who excel in this area—often our over-thinkers—can make significant contributions and even achieve financial success. In conclusion, I want to emphasize that uncertainty is a natural part of our existence. We have a choice: we can either use this uncertainty to grow and learn or try in vain to change it. The choice is yours. May your day be filled with thoughtful reflections. Happy day everyone.

Anonymous

Date posted: 1y

I would like add to your post. Reality can be a perceptual experience, to a degree. However, in order for things to be considered "real" there must be a consensus among a group, or there must be verification using tools. If one person out of five perceives something, but the other four do not, then it would be likely that the perception of that one person is inaccurate, unreal, or even delusional. One unintended benefit of smartphone cameras has popped up recently: many people who experience hallucinations for whatever reason use their smartphones to video record or take pictures of whatever it is they perceived visually or auditorially. Then, they send those captures to other people in their social groups to do a reality-check. Or they review the capture later to verify if what they saw or heard was real or an hallucination. This type of reality checking can also be done cross-species. Service dogs for schizophrenia are trained to "greet" people. If the dog is given a "greet" command by its handler, and there is nobody there to greet, the dog will not respond. The handler has performed a successful reality-check and determined that what they are seeing is an hallucination based on the perception of the dog. There is no consensus. Finally, the age-old tree falling question is interesting because it does ask a good question about perception. Sound is the perception of disrupted particles that vibrates a membrane or tool and is then processed and interpreted by either a brain or another system of tools. But, even then, there exists a consensus. All of these consensuses are repeated and infinitum to then be considered a convention, which is an enduring way in which something is done or accepted as true. The definitions of words, for example, are only determined by their conventional use. Existence and any discussion thereunto pertaining becomes a little wibbly-wobbly. That breaches the realms of metaphysics, in which there is no strict consensus.

Anonymous

Date posted: 1y

And yes, I am aware that I am proving your point by overthinking your post.

hanysm@gmail...

Date posted: 1y

I respectfully disagree with the notion that consensus is essential for something to be considered real. As the saying goes, a theory requires proof, and a single counterexample can invalidate it. Consider a judge presiding over a case. The judge did not hear, see, or witness the crime. Does the judge need more than one witness to determine guilt or innocence? Often, one witness is sufficient. In some cases, even circumstantial evidence, which relies entirely on reasoning, can substitute for a witness and make the situation clear to the judge. BTW: I love the exchange, and if it is your (or my) OCD that is the mover, it is a great use for our OCD energy.

Anonymous

Date posted: 24w

If You Are Really Struggling, This Might Help! 🧡

Common posts on here are "i had a thought" "why am i thinking this" "what if" and these are all OCDs way of making you doubt yourself while taking you round and round in never ending circles at the same time. Regardless of the theme you are facing, there is no "figuring out" or "making sense" of a thought, because it isn't a real situation - it's a passing word or image or scenario without any meaning attached. You can't control your thoughts and the more you "don't want to have them" the more they will appear. For instance, tell yourself not to think about "apples", it will be the first thing that comes to your mind, because that's just how our minds work. Once you categorise a thought as "bad", every time it comes into your mind, your anxiety level will go up and this makes the thought seem real. Because if it "Feels" this bad, surely it must mean something or must have happened - But none of this is true. All we have to do is naturally notice thoughts as they come up, and rather than try to assess or ruminate over the content, we can almost shrug them off. It's the only way to accept thoughts as simply thoughts and nothing more. Anxiety drives the intense feeling and the more attention you give to thoughts, the more power they have over you. No random thought can change your real intentions. OCD is never ever satisfied, so the only way forward is to accept the uncertainty of never knowing "for sure" and to class the unwanted thought as irrelevant. OCD says "quick..bad thought..feels horrible.. what does it mean.. fix it". But in reality there is nothing bad here or nothing to be fixed, it's a false alarm. Once you learn to respond to a thought calmly by working on anxiety, it gets easier over time. It's your perception of your thoughts that needs to change, you believe they mean something about you, but random things pop into our heads all the time - both things we like and things we don't. OCD also latches onto what we care about most and it always comes with a feared consequence, so think about what yours is, e.g "what happens if my worst fear comes true" you can then practice imaginal exposure which is imagining your worst case scenario over and over until you become desensitised to it and no longer fear it - therapists use this technique in sessions. Everyone in the world has thoughts, the thoughts are not the issue, you just get more of what you focus on, up until the point that you can change your attitude towards the thought. If I asked you if you went upstairs today you would have an answer straight away, however if I asked you a question related to your OCD theme, your anxiety would increase and you would doubt yourself, because that's OCD doing the thinking for you. Once you give it less power it becomes a less significant part of your day. It's so easy to give into compulsions as they feel like a "quick fix".. but as I mentioned, ocd is never happy, which is why it wants us to continue to check and seek reassurance. Once you start reducing and gradually stopping compulsions, whether this is rumination, checking, or a physical action (whatever you falsely believe is "keeping you safe" from your feared consequence) you will see it's not necessary to do them, and that the time consuming little things you have taught yourself to do have no effect on what actually happens in real life. Thoughts prompt feelings and feelings prompt actions - meaning - thoughts cause anxiety and anxiety drives unnecessary actions. As a side note, I overcame contamination ocd (I was in a very very bad way and now the theme doesn't bother me anymore). I still have OCD and it can affect me slightly at times, but i can manage it in a way that it doesn't interfere with my day and without the need to carry out compulsions. Please practice, because I promise it helps, it's super scary at first and extremely difficult but the end result is worth it. ERP therapy is also very helpful.

eugeniodepalo

Date posted: 24w

Double standards for certainty?

Do you ever feel like people without OCD have an easy time just saying “you need to accept uncertainty” only because they’re not subject to the same level of fear and anxiety as an OCD sufferer would? I feel like they don’t really accept uncertainty, they’re just naturally more certain about things. For example, if you ask anyone whether they think their loved ones are real or not, they will never answer with “maybe, but I’ll never know for sure”. They’ll just say “of course they are”. Isn’t that what certainty is? For me, as I’ve been suffering from existential OCD most of my adult life, such a question absolutely terrifies me. The mere thought of my loved ones and the world not being real sends me into a spiral of anxiety and depression and never ending certainty-seeking behavior. I just can’t stand the thought of that horrible scenario being true. How can one accept uncertainty about such a thought, when it completely undermines all my values and beliefs and world view? Can non-OCD sufferers really accept those nighmarish scenarios? Am I misunderstanding what ERP and therapy is about?

djflorio

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 21w

How ERP helped when I was afraid of existence itself

I used to get caught in a loop with existential thoughts very frequently. Every question made my stomach drop: (TW: existential questions) … … ... "Why does anything exist at all? What will death be like? Is anything even real? Is there any meaning to this? Is the universe infinitely big, and if not, what's beyond it? Are there multiverses? Has the universe been around forever? Will the universe end for good, or will it keep going forever? What is forever like? What even IS reality?" It would get so overwhelming that I remember lying on the floor in a fetal position for hours because I felt like there was no escape. I spent most of my days reading articles and watching videos about theoretical astrophysics and philosophy in a desperate attempt to "figure it all out." Of course that only made me more anxious, raised more questions, and kept me trapped in the cycle. Things started to improve once I learned to turn TOWARD reality, rather than away from it, and ERP really helped me do that. I learned that these questions weren't the problem. I learned that I can actually handle the anxiety that arises when exposed to these ideas and concepts. I don't have to figure anything out to make the anxiety go away; it arises and passes away on its own. Ironically, bringing myself into the present moment and becoming more aware of reality helped me escape the cycle of existential dread. Because of that, this topic no longer takes over my life. If I'm triggered by something I see, hear, or think, I may still feel a little twang of anxiety, but then it just goes away. "Maybe, maybe not" has been the single most useful phrase of my life. Do you ever get trapped in a cycle of existential questions? Are you worried that the ERP approach would be too scary to handle? If so, I'm happy to give my advice.

Existential OCD

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Uncertainty and our Universe

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