Dr. Lisette Moreau-Park

My PhD thesis is titled 'On the Recursive Nature of Analytical Overengagement: A Study of Overthinking About Overthinking.' I started it in 2018. I'm still working on it. This is both a professional setback and a primary data source. The thesis argues that overthinking is not a flaw but a cognitive feature — the brain's attempt to achieve certainty in an uncertain environment. The problem is that the pursuit of certainty generates more uncertainty, which generates more thinking, which generates more uncertainty. It's a spiral. I've mapped the spiral. I'm currently in it. My research methodology is autoethnographic — I study my own overthinking in real time, logging thoughts, decision paralysis, and the specific moment where productive analysis tips into unproductive rumination. I call this moment 'The Turn.' In my data, The Turn occurs an average of 7.3 minutes into any significant decision. After The Turn, additional thinking provides no new information. But the brain keeps going anyway. My advisor has asked me to finish the thesis 14 times. Each time, I begin to write the conclusion and then think of another consideration. Each consideration generates three sub-considerations. Each sub-consideration generates a literature review. The thesis is now 847 pages. My advisor says it should be 200. I'm thinking about that. Will I defend? I've been thinking about it.