My wife couldn’t believe it when a psychologist explained that men tend to compartmentalize their thoughts, and will switch from one issue to the next by figuratively putting the first thought into its box, closing it, and then opening a thought from another box. He said that a really important box for men is the "Nothing " box, which is empty. Men like to spend time there. This flabbergasted my wife. I told her it was necessary, because if I had had to spend concentrated, focused thought on issues 24/7, I’d have had a heart attack at age 20, from the stress. My Nothing box is how I relax: when I’m looking into my Nothing box, I really am literally not thinking about anything in particular. I said that this was one reason fishing was popular with some men. It allows them to not think about anything, for hours on end, while simultaneously looking like they’re doing something. She couldn’t imagine thinking that way; to her each thought was connected to the next. The only reason it sometimes looks scatter-brained to men is that we don’t hit the same stops she does in her train of thought.
My wife couldn’t believe it when a psychologist explained that men tend to compartmentalize their thoughts, and will switch from one issue to the next by figuratively putting the first thought into its box, closing it, and then opening a thought from another box. He said that a really important box for men is the "Nothing " box, which is empty. Men like to spend time there. This flabbergasted my wife. I told her it was necessary, because if I had had to spend concentrated, focused thought on issues 24/7, I’d have had a heart attack at age 20, from the stress. My Nothing box is how I relax: when I’m looking into my Nothing box, I really am literally not thinking about anything in particular. I said that this was one reason fishing was popular with some men. It allows them to not think about anything, for hours on end, while simultaneously looking like they’re doing something. She couldn’t imagine thinking that way; to her each thought was connected to the next. The only reason it sometimes looks scatter-brained to men is that we don’t hit the same stops she does in her train of thought.