Full Idea
The unexamined life may not be worth living, but the overexamined life is nothing to write home about either.
Clarification
A reaction to Socrates' famous remark
Gist of Idea
An overexamined life is as bad as an unexamined one
Source
Daniel C. Dennett (Elbow Room: varieties of free will [1984], §4.2)
Book Reference
Dennett,Daniel C.: 'Elbow Room - Free will worth wanting' [MIT 1999], p.87
A Reaction
Presumably he means a life which is all theory and no practice. Compare Idea 343.
Related Idea
Idea 343 The unexamined life is not worth living for men [Socrates]