What is Mental Masturbation, and should we practice it daily?

Mental masturbation, I am sure your mind went racing, as did mine the first time I heard the term. It is not something that one meets daily, and it is certainly something one may not feel comfortable repeating in public for fear of being misconstrued. What is mental masturbation? The jury is still out on whether this is an actual real term or one that is made up. You will only find this in the urban dictionary, which is where I think it fits.

What is mental masturbation?

I found several definitions in the urban dictionary; the extended version being it is “the act of engaging in intelligent and interesting conversation purely for the enjoyment of your greatness and individuality. Subjects range from obscure lp’s to cultural movements in preindustrial societies. Either delivered through grand monologues or subtle conversation orientation, it links large words and random references resulting in nothing actually being communicated.” And the short version is, “Intellectual activity that serves no practical purpose.”

It almost seems like a harsh statement, but in essence, it is about self-satisfaction that has no practical use but making oneself feel good about them. I am sure we have all been guilty of this at one point in our lives, but the question is, “Is it a bad thing?”

The negative side of mental masturbation

The sense that one gets from the definition of mental masturbation is that there is no way it can be a good thing. One should be embarrassed to be wasting time rambling on intellectually with no real purpose at all. As it is said in the definition, nothing comes out of mental masturbation, one can spend a whole day feeling good about their brilliant ideas, and no action or practical things comes out of it. As much as it feels good to have these great thoughts and conversation, there is no real satisfaction from accomplishing them.

Mental masturbation brings out a short-lived stimulus of satisfaction, and then it is gone. It is seen as an addition that keeps you from living in reality because you constantly search for the next high of intellectual thoughts and not get anything done. Some have said that there is a lot of failure in life and business because there are many big ideas but minimal action happening because the action part is boring and not stimulating.

The positive side of mental masturbation

It surely cannot be all bad, right? This is true; mental masturbation can be practised every day and have a positive impact on your life, especially in the times we live where there is a lot of doom and gloom. The world is going through a difficult period with the pandemic, and it is easy to slump into depression because the mind is so focused on the negative things going around.

• Mental masturbation can help you relax because you feel good about the thoughts going on in your head. You can release tension when you focus on your great ideas, your intellectual thought process because it reminds you that you are still competent. Even though things are at a standstill and you cannot go out there and do something, you can come up with ideas on what you will do once you get the chance to go out and do it.
• It can help you focus and concentrate on something positive. Depression can send you down a deep hole that has you focused on the negatives. But mental masturbation is the opposite. You can focus on fantasy, such as being a superhero and going out there and changing the world. It is something that makes you feel good about yourself and gives you some self-worth.
• You can boost your creativity. Many good ideas come out when you are having intellectual conversations with people; even if there is no immediate action, it doesn’t mean that these ideas will not lead to anything. You can act on them at a later date.
• It helps with problem-solving; many problem solving ideas have come out of long winded conversations with friends or colleagues that may seem pointless in the end but bring about that “ah-ha” moment later on. Some people who have gone on to do great things are from conversations as such.

Even though mental masturbation was derived from an opposing point of view, it doesn’t mean that it should always be viewed that way. When it is used as an excuse for not being productive, then yes, it is terrible. However, so much good can come from it. Used in the right way, it could change the world and maybe even save a life.