“Mental gum”<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 these are those obsessive thoughts that give you no peace and spin in your head day after day. You would be glad not to think them, but they think themselves \u2013 on their own, without any control or participation from you.<\/p>\nIt’s like in the parable about the Buddhist monk. His student asks:<\/p>\n
\u2013 Teacher, what should I do to achieve enlightenment?<\/p>\n
\u2013 Very simple, \u2013 the monk replies. \u2013 Cross that bridge over there, but just don’t think about the pink elephant.<\/p>\n
The trick is that the student had probably crossed that very bridge a thousand times and never thought about any elephant (let alone a pink one!). But when you are told not to think about a pink elephant, you start trying not to think about it and, consequently, think only about it.<\/p>\n
What forms in the brain is what psychologists call an\u00a0“unfinished gestalt”<\/strong>\u00a0: you think about something, but the thought isn’t fully worked through (it’s like a question without an answer), and you don’t know what to do \u2013 there’s no conclusion, no solution. So you go around the same circle again and again.<\/p>\nAnd only at the moment when the corresponding gestalt is completed, and the thought turns into an action, your brain finally gets the opportunity to connect several nerve centers into a single complex and archive it. After that, it will no longer return to this issue.<\/p>\n
In fact, our\u00a0“mental gum”<\/strong>\u00a0consists precisely of such\u00a0“unfinished thoughts”<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0“unfinished tasks.”<\/strong>\u00a0The hardest thing, I suppose, is to finish the thought about the “pink elephant,” because it is utterly meaningless. But apparently, monks can handle even such a task if they try hard enough.<\/p>\nBut we are mortal people, not noted for holiness, so our problems are simpler. For most normal people, ordinary\u00a0“mental gum”<\/strong>\u00a0looks roughly like this, quite trivially:<\/p>\n\n- \n
several conflict situations at work \u2013 with the boss, with colleagues, relatives, etc.;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
thoughts about who thinks what about you, how they treat you, etc.;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
some obligations \u2013 to friends, employees, etc.;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
worries about relationships with your partner \u2013 who said what to whom, who was right and who was wrong, where love has gone, etc.;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
considerations about universal injustice, the meaninglessness of life, human egoism, and other, so to speak,\u00a0“philosophical questions”<\/strong>\u00a0;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n- \n
plus fears \u2013 not being on time for something, not coping with something,\u00a0“that things will go bad and there will be no one to call an ambulance,”<\/strong>\u00a0etc.;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n- \n
finally, thoughts about what photo to post on Instagram or what to write on Facebook, to thus communicate one’s own existence to\u00a0“virtual friends,”<\/strong>\u00a0and in such a way that they like it and the likes come pouring in.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nThat is, the list is usually quite specific and understandable, and most importantly \u2013 quite limited. So why do we run these thoughts in circles instead of thinking them through to the end and forgetting them like a bad dream?<\/p>\n
It’s simple here: when you notice one of these thoughts in yourself, you start spinning it (thinking, so to speak), but quickly come either to horror, or indignation, or despondency, and immediately abandon it. This is understandable: thinking about unpleasant things is unpleasant.<\/p>\n
Scientists have calculated that the duration of such a\u00a0“wandering”<\/strong>\u00a0thought (the duration of your reflections on a specific situation) usually does not exceed 10 seconds. It’s clear that you can’t think through or come up with anything worthwhile in such a short time.<\/p>\nThe place of a thought abandoned halfway, not thought through to the end, is immediately taken by the next thought from your limited list of automatic thoughts.<\/p>\n
You perform the same procedure: you eagerly start thinking this thought, but as soon as you encounter difficulties, you push it away and immediately grab the next one.<\/p>\n
Overall, it resembles a kind of children’s carousel \u2013 the horses seem to be moving along cheerfully, but in circles and not really. At the same time, you expend a colossal amount of energy on this carousel, and your mental state becomes utterly ruined.<\/p>\n
How can you rid yourself of this\u00a0“mental gum”<\/strong>\u00a0and free up the space of your thinking for something more worthwhile? How to kill this ruminating idiot within yourself? It turns out it’s not that difficult.<\/p>\n\n- \n
Take a pen and paper, sit down at a table, and allow your thoughts to\u00a0“wander.”<\/strong>\u00a0If you can’t, just walk around the room.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n- \n
Memories will flash in your head \u2013 some people with whom you are, so to speak,\u00a0“in a debate,”<\/strong>\u00a0certain situations that require your participation, tasks you need to do but don’t know where to start or just keep putting off.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n- \n
As soon as a corresponding thought arises in you, immediately write it down \u2013 and continue\u00a0“wandering”<\/strong>\u00a0until you catch the next one.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nAfter you have compiled the list of your\u00a0“mental gum,”<\/strong>\u00a0divide it into two parts: things you\u00a0must do<\/strong>\u00a0and things you\u00a0must think through.<\/strong><\/p>\nLet’s start with the simplest \u2013 the list of things you must do but never get around to.<\/h2>\n
For example, you need to prepare a work report, groom the dog, talk to your boss about a new project, pay bills, negotiate a fee with a client, go to a restaurant with a friend (you promised long ago), call your parents, wash the windows, buy batteries, etc.<\/p>\n
Enter all these tasks into your calendar, scheduling them as conveniently and realistically as possible. That’s it, you don’t need to think about these things anymore. You now know when you will do them, and that’s the end of it. You’ll still have to do the thing, but you no longer need to constantly remember it: you’ll remember when it’s actually time to do it.<\/p>\n
The second part of the list \u2013 thoughts you need to think through. Here, of course, it’s more complicated.<\/h2>\n
For example, you have some\u00a0“irresolvable contradictions”<\/strong>\u00a0with your partner \u2013 you see your shared future differently, there’s no basic mutual understanding, feelings have dulled, etc.<\/p>\nOr, for instance, you’re not sure you’re spending your time right in terms of profession and career growth \u2013 you feel it’s\u00a0“uninteresting,”<\/strong>\u00a0“not your thing,”<\/strong>\u00a0“no prospects,”<\/strong>\u00a0etc.<\/p>\nNext, another option: the boss makes certain demands that you consider inappropriate, and you don’t know what to do about it; friends don’t share your new interest, etc., etc.<\/p>\n
Finally, something dramatic: one of your relatives is suffering from an incurable disease, and you don’t understand what to do, how you should behave in connection with this, etc.<\/p>\n
In addition, suppose you think that your life has been a failure, that you’re a loser: you turned wrong somewhere, bet on the wrong thing or the wrong person, etc.<\/p>\n
All these thoughts will need to be divided by a volitional decision into two groups: into\u00a0meaningless<\/strong>\u00a0ones and those\u00a0requiring reflection.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\u2013\u00a0Meaningless thoughts<\/strong><\/h2>\ninclude any judgments of an extremely general nature \u2013 about world injustice, the cruelty of the world, your bad luck; about how you went the wrong way and down the wrong path; about how it would be nice to have a million dollars and do nothing, and also live like billionaires, crossing oceans on transatlantic yachts.<\/p>\n
All these empty thoughts should, upon sober reflection, be recognized as meaningless.<\/p>\n
There is indeed no thought in them. These are just automatisms \u2013 a habit of thinking this way when you feel bad.<\/p>\n
Your brain has formed a specific response pattern in such situations, and one part of this pattern (besides drinking, partying, going on a spree, etc.) is to slip you a series of such nonsense, to give you something to do in your depression.<\/p>\n
By marking these thoughts as\u00a0“meaningless,”<\/strong>\u00a0you deprive yourself of the opportunity to think them: when you encounter them in your\u00a0“wandering,”<\/strong>\u00a0you will see their absurdity.<\/p>\nBut you really must internally agree with their meaninglessness, otherwise the brain will continue to torment you with them.<\/p>\n
Believe me: the brain will definitely not do anything if it considers it meaningless. So once you prove to it that something is meaningless, it immediately loses all interest in that venture.<\/p>\n
If\u00a0“meaningless thoughts”<\/strong>\u00a0continue to bother you, it means you’ve been dishonest somewhere and are fooling yourself. Most likely, you are using these thoughts for some other purpose \u2013 for example, for self-justification or boosting your own self-esteem.<\/p>\nAll these harmful inclinations (they are useless anyway) should be exposed, and finally put an end to all this traumatic nonsense.<\/p>\n
Therefore, after compiling this part of the list, look at it carefully, reflect on the meaninglessness of each thought entered in it, and, having convinced yourself that it is exactly that \u2013 meaningless \u2013 systematically cross them out one by one.<\/p>\n
In conclusion, you need to fix in your memory that each thought from this list has been thought through by you, brought to its logical conclusion, recognized as meaningless, and crossed out.<\/p>\n
\u2013 So, we are left with thoughts that need genuine contemplation.<\/h2>\n
Indeed, in a state of\u00a0“wandering,”<\/strong>\u00a0we often encounter thoughts that need to be completed \u2013 thought through to the end, a concrete, considered decision made, and stopped there.<\/p>\nThis effect cannot be achieved in a state of\u00a0“wandering.”<\/strong>\u00a0If they are not put on paper and you don’t focus on them purposefully, your attention will inevitably drift away, latching onto some other thoughts about other trivialities.<\/p>\nFirst, think about what’s stopping you \u2013 why you don’t dare to think through what you should? I’m sure you’ll find that it’s about\u00a0responsibility<\/strong>\u00a0you don’t want to take on.<\/p>\nYou’re afraid to face the truth, embarrassed to admit something to yourself: you’re scared that the decision you make might change your life.<\/p>\n
One way or another, if you think through the thoughts that need it to the end, a solution will appear before you.<\/p>\n
You will understand what you need to do, how to behave properly, what decisions to make, etc. Yes, this is frightening. Not only because it’s\u00a0“just scary,”<\/strong>\u00a0but because it will require you to change the stereotypes of your habitual behavior.<\/p>\nFor example, usually you have a fight with your partner, you get offended at each other, then you sort things out, make up, and then calmly wait for the next blow-up.<\/p>\n
This is a familiar form of behavior for you \u2013 these are the rails you ride on with classical automatism. If you need to change something, you’ll have to relay these rails. The brain will have to do work, establish new connections, and that’s against the principle of economy! And in general, it’s scary because it’s new and unusual. That’s when panic arises.<\/p>\n
But wait a second: when you’re thinking something through, you can’t change anything yet, so there’s no need to panic. Write each problem separately on a piece of paper and think about what elements it consists of.<\/p>\n
I’ll tell you later how to solve such problems with maximum efficiency. For now, it’s enough for you to treat it like a simple math problem \u2013 there are these conditions, this list of facts, and from this, such-and-such a conclusion can be drawn. It can be anything, the main thing is that it’s the conclusion you can draw based on the facts you have at the moment.<\/p>\n
Perhaps this conclusion won’t be exhaustive, and perhaps it won’t completely satisfy you. But you already have an\u00a0intermediate solution<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 and that’s all you can come up with for now, at this point. To think about this task further without having additional facts is, again, meaningless.<\/p>\nYes, perhaps now you know what facts you are missing. Perhaps you’ll see that you’re missing something because the overall picture isn’t coming together. But the main thing is that you already have an intermediate result.<\/p>\n
Therefore, whenever this question reappears on your mental horizon, you will simply say to yourself:\u00a0“For now, I think about it this way and that, and when additional facts appear, I’ll think about it again. But returning to it now is pointless.”<\/strong><\/p>\nThus, you will interrupt this endless internal wandering muttering and additionally fix the new neural connection that has arisen in your brain.<\/p>\n
This new\u00a0“understanding”<\/strong>\u00a0will need some time to settle, but when it finally happens (the corresponding synaptic\u00a0“spines”<\/strong>\u00a0grow), this obsessive thought will stop bothering you.<\/p>\nNow review your lists again, compile a final one, and sum up:<\/p>\n
\n- \n
there are things you must do, and they are already planned \u2013 you will think about them when their time comes;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
a set of meaningless thoughts that you have thought through and crossed out, because they are nonsense not worth your time and effort;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
a set of important thoughts that need refinement, but you can’t say anything new about them now, so you will return to them when you have gathered a sufficient number of new facts.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
These are the internal attitudes you must clearly remember.<\/p>\n
But this, unfortunately, is only half the battle. Now you need to start tracking your own\u00a0“wandering”<\/strong>\u00a0: whenever your thoughts flow somewhere off track, you will be able to notice it and remember which class these thoughts belong to.<\/p>\nWhen you realize that this is a class of thought automatisms \u2013\u00a0“tasks,”<\/strong>\u00a0“nonsense,”<\/strong>\u00a0or\u00a0“important thought”<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 you can use the appropriate formulation.<\/p>\nYour brain will try to play the game\u00a0“Come on, wander!”<\/strong>\u00a0with you more than once. But if you carry out the interruption of this automatism, it will literally be embedded in the corresponding neurophysiological structure, and these thoughts will stop appearing in your consciousness. At least, as long as you don’t ask them to.<\/p>\nAgain:\u00a0“mental gum,”<\/strong>\u00a0occurring on full autopilot, takes up half of your entire life. Just think about it: half a life \u2013 to run the same thoughts around in your head! And with absolutely no benefit! If we are stressed, in a serious conflict with someone, we can run these thoughts in circles 24 hours a day.<\/p>\nKilling this ruminating and eternally chewing idiot is the only way to free your brain so that it starts actually working for you.<\/p>\n
\nConducting a semantic assembly in the Lamed Group field. Beginning level analysis of the article “Mental Gum.”<\/strong><\/h2>\n1. Facts (Raw Material)<\/strong>
\nThe article is a detailed, practical, and structured psychological piece dedicated to the phenomenon of obsessive, cyclical thoughts. The text relies on the parable of the “pink elephant” (unfinished gestalt) and offers a specific methodology for working with “mental gum.” The main sections are:<\/p>\n\n- \n
Definition of the phenomenon and its neurophysiological basis (unfinished gestalts, “unfinished thoughts”).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
A typical list of everyday “gum” thoughts.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Explanation of why they loop (fear of unpleasantness, incompleteness).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
A practical two-stage methodology: 1) compiling a list (through “wandering”), 2) categorizing (tasks, meaningless thoughts, thoughts requiring reflection).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Working with each category: scheduling tasks, recognizing and discarding nonsense, analyzing and reaching intermediate solutions for important issues.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
The necessity of tracking and interrupting the automatism.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
2. Assessment according to the refined methodology<\/strong><\/p>\nStep 2. Counting “Semantic Nodes” (N)<\/h3>\n
The text is very dense and structured. I count\u00a015 key nodes<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n- \n
Definition:<\/strong>\u00a0obsessive thoughts that spin in the head without control or participation.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n- \n
Parable of the pink elephant:<\/strong>\u00a0illustration of the “unfinished gestalt” mechanism (thought as a question without an answer).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n- \n
Archiving mechanism:<\/strong>\u00a0a thought is completed only after turning into an action or solution; then the brain “archives” it.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n- \n
Typical examples of “gum”:<\/strong>\u00a0conflicts, others’ opinions, obligations, relationships, philosophical questions, fears, social media.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n- \n
Reason for looping:<\/strong>\u00a0unpleasantness of thoughts causes them to be abandoned halfway (less than 10 seconds).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n- \n
Methodology \u2014 stage 1 (collection):<\/strong>\u00a0“wandering” with pen and paper to identify all disturbing thoughts.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n- \n
First categorization:<\/strong>\u00a0dividing the list into “tasks” and “thoughts requiring reflection.”<\/p>\n<\/li>\n- \n
Working with tasks:<\/strong>\u00a0entering them into a calendar, planning \u2014 after this, one can stop thinking about them.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n- \n
Second categorization of thoughts:<\/strong>\u00a0dividing into “meaningless” and “requiring reflection.”<\/p>\n<\/li>\n- \n
Criterion for meaningless thoughts:<\/strong>\u00a0extremely general judgments (about injustice, bad luck, unrealistic dreams), automatisms, response patterns.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n- \n
Method for dealing with nonsense:<\/strong>\u00a0realize and internally agree with its absurdity; if it persists, look for hidden gain (self-justification, boosting self-esteem).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n- \n
Working with important thoughts:<\/strong>\u00a0analyzing what is stopping you (fear of responsibility, fear of change).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n- \n
Problem-solving technique:<\/strong>\u00a0break down into elements, record available facts, reach an intermediate conclusion.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n- \n
Future mindset:<\/strong>\u00a0when the thought returns, note the intermediate result and tell yourself that returning to it now is pointless (until new facts appear).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n- \n
Final integration:<\/strong>\u00a0tracking “wandering,” classifying thoughts, and interrupting automatism to free up brain energy.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nN = 15<\/strong><\/p>\nStep 3. Counting “Interpretation Variance” (D)<\/h3>\n
Predicting reactions of hypothetical readers:<\/p>\n
\n- \n
Reader A (skeptic, critic):<\/strong>\u00a0“Yet another pop psychology piece. The elephant parable is banal. The pen-and-paper method is too simple to work.” (1)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n- \n
Reader B (person suffering from obsessive thoughts):<\/strong>\u00a0“My God, this is about me! Finally, a clear algorithm. I need to try it right now.” (4)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n- \n
Reader C (psychologist, psychotherapist):<\/strong>\u00a0“A correct and practical exposition of the cognitive-behavioral approach to rumination. The idea of an ‘intermediate solution’ and fixing the conclusion to interrupt the cycle is especially valuable.” (4)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n- \n
Reader D (representative of the Lamed field):<\/strong>\u00a0“An ideal application of our methodology to everyday psychology. Here we have work with automatisms, the principle of ‘completion,’ and freeing up energy. The text is a ready-made practical tool.” (5)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n- \n
Reader E (layperson):<\/strong>\u00a0“Clear and useful. I should try writing down my thoughts.” (3)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nThe variance is very high.\u00a0D = 4.5<\/strong><\/p>\nStep 4. Counting “Resonance Energy” (E)<\/h3>\n
Reading time: ~10-12 minutes (650 seconds). The text has high energy because:<\/p>\n
\n- \n
It offers a concrete, step-by-step, immediately applicable methodology.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
It contains recognizable examples with which the reader can identify.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
It uses vivid metaphors (“pink elephant,” “gum”).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Time for reflection and initial attempts at application \u2014 no less than 3 hours (10800 seconds).<\/p>\n
E = 10800 \/ 650 = 16.6<\/strong><\/p>\nStep 5. Calculating Basic Density (P)<\/h3>\n
P = (N \u00d7 E) \/ D = (15 \u00d7 16.6) \/ 4.5 = 249 \/ 4.5 = 55.3<\/strong><\/p>\nStep 6. Estimating Lifetime (T)<\/h3>\n
The text speaks about an eternal problem of the human psyche. The methodology for working with obsessive thoughts will not become obsolete.<\/p>\n
T = 6 (eternity)<\/strong><\/p>\nStep 7. Calculating Integral Density (P_total)<\/h3>\n
P_total = P \u00d7 T = 55.3 \u00d7 6 = 331.8<\/strong><\/p>\n3. Interpretation<\/strong><\/p>\n