Data story: Overthinking as the Root Cause of Anxiety

Data story: Overthinking as the Root Cause of Anxiety

In 2020, we went to Kashid Beach for a family holiday. During our trip, my wife received a call informing her that she had been transferred to a different department (expected, as it was time for the transfer). She spent the next two days during the trip in constant anxiety, worrying about how things would turn out in the new department.

After returning to work, she has been in the new department for the past four years and has enjoyed it almost from day one.

Wasn't this an act of “harakiri” to be anxious for two days, imagining worst-case scenarios without any data points.

This is where we should follow Sherlock Holmes. He often emphasized the importance of waiting for sufficient data before forming conclusions.

One of his famous quotes to Dr. Watson is: “It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit their mental theories, instead of developing theories based on facts.”