insanity 101

[thepaulo]

since it's my 101 official thread....it seems like a good time to formulate a course of instruction.
my first question, class......
if you seem to be the only sane person in an insane world, does that make you crazy?

[GvacMobile]

Yes.

[nate1000]

Shouldn't you start this class with the following disclaimer: "I am a fucking nut job."

[LaBoob]

Yes.

:wink:

[thepaulo]

disclaimer.......
I am a fucking nut job.

[ChrisBrown]

when most people say someone is 'crazy', do they usually mean that person is schizophrenic? If we have any expert out there, I am interested in learning some of the basics of what it means to be crazy or insane. Seems like a timely thread too.

[Team_Ramrod]

Seeing as we now have the disclaimer out of the way; I may chime in...


What world is this that you are speaking of?

[GvacMobile]

One of the definitions of 'crazy' is doing the same thing over and over again yet expecting a different result.

[jeffdwright2001]

One of the definitions of 'crazy' is doing the same thing over and over again yet expecting a different result.

You mean like asking for a change in the ronfez mobile skin?

[ozzie]

What world is this that you are speaking of?

What color is the sky in your world, Paulo?

People care about you... people care about you.

[GvacMobile]

You mean like asking for a change in the ronfez mobile skin?

HAHAHA!!!

To be serious, though, I think many of Paul O's anxieties stem from the fact that he expects the world to be 'fair' and reward those he deems to be 'good people.'

These are relative terms and the universe has no concept of them. It can be a difficult truth to accept, but once you do you'll stop getting so down.

[LaBoob]

since it's my 101 official thread....it seems like a good time to formulate a course of instruction.
my first question, class......
if you seem to be the only sane person in an insane world, does that make you crazy?

People see their world around them and percieve that as the true reality. It's human nature. But...

It is a big, BIG world out there... so big that we can't even conceive its vastness... so why get caught up in thinking small? We are not important in the grand scheme of things. We're just specks... intelligent specks, but specks nonetheless, who are incredibly lucky to be here! Enjoy your time while you have it!

[RAAMONE]

when most people say someone is 'crazy', do they usually mean that person is schizophrenic? If we have any expert out there, I am interested in learning some of the basics of what it means to be crazy or insane. Seems like a timely thread too.

i worked in the mental health field for a little while and most people i worked with were schizophrenic, paranoid schizophrenic, bipolar schizophrenic....and they really didnt act that crazy (i mean not normal but not batshit crazy) as long as they stayed on their medication...if they went off it, they acted crazy...oh and dont ever major in psychology, helping people kinda sucks as a career and you dont make any money unless you get further education...which is why i am no longer in the mental health field

[Midkiff]

http://www.euts.org/userpics/sycotic.jpg

[thepaulo]

Most people are functional.....those that are not need medication,etcetera to function or they are institutionalized.
But is being functional proof of sanity?

[LaBoob]

Most people are functional.....those that are not need medication,etcetera to function or they are institutionalized.
But is being functional proof of sanity?

This is a very broad question. What do you mean by functional?

[thepaulo]

working at a job, paying your bills, maintaining a stable relationship.....
these are basic but arbitrary examples.

[RAAMONE]

working at a job, paying your bills, maintaining a stable relationship.....
these are basic but arbitrary examples.

still really broad...there are way too many kinds of crazy...for example when someone finds out their neighbor is a psychotic serial killer they always say something like "he was such a nice normal guy"

just saying you can function in life and still be outta your mind

[LaBoob]

working at a job, paying your bills, maintaining a stable relationship.....
these are basic but arbitrary examples.

Sounds boring!

Seriously though... someone giving up all those things above to, say, ride the rails, wouldn't be so insane.

Someone giving up all those things to stay in their house until the bank comes to forclose, not so sane, but maybe they're just making bad decisions.

Someone giving up all those things to concentrate on pulling their hair out full-time, or to start collecting human heads in jars... insane.

[LaBoob]

just saying you can function in life and still be outta your mind

Agreed!

[thepaulo]

well this goes back to my basic premise that everyone is crazy.....
The people that seem crazy may talk funny or act weird but might be able reason intelligently.
People who function competently or present themselves to others properly may be a seething mass of insane thought that is suppressed or hidden.
Strictly soliciting opinion, is anyone 100% sane?

[Midkiff]

working at a job, paying your bills, maintaining a stable relationship.....
these are basic but arbitrary examples.

Those are usually fairly good indicators.... and you don't do those things.

[ChrisBrown]

Sounds boring!

Seriously though... someone giving up all those things above to, say, ride the rails, wouldn't be so insane.

Someone giving up all those things to stay in their house until the bank comes to forclose, not so sane, but maybe they're just making bad decisions.

Someone giving up all those things to concentrate on pulling their hair out full-time, or to start collecting human heads in jars... insane.

Good point - basing insanity on how well you can hold down a job, marriage, or generally function in the modern world is pretty narrow. You can completely bow out of society, live in a cabin in Alaska, become non-functional in the conventional sense, but still be sane. On the other hand, you can be a bank teller with a mortgage, savings account, and fully functional but have bodies stuffed under your floorboard.

[ChrisBrown]

Most people are functional.....those that are not need medication,etcetera to function or they are institutionalized.
But is being functional proof of sanity?

I just re-read the post about functional vs. sane. the answer to the above question is definitely 'no'

[LaBoob]

If insanity is acting in any other way than what society sees as "normal", than yes, everybody is a little bit insane. I'll look at my neighbor who spends HOURS A DAY making sure his tiny lawn is perfectly manicured and think he's crazy. He probably looks at my unruly jungle backyard and thinks I'm crazy.


Insane/Sane... what does it matter? We're all just different.

[thepaulo]

In a recent film, Into the Wild, a young man decides to chuck responsibility and live life on the road. He winds up in the Alaskan wilderness and dies of malnutrition.
Is it safe to say he was insane?

[LaBoob]

This is what I was drawing on when I wrote this:

Seriously though... someone giving up all those things above to, say, ride the rails, wouldn't be so insane.

I don't think it's insane to give up all things material and live a life of simplicity. It might be insane to think that buying things can make us happy though.

[ChrisBrown]

In a recent film, Into the Wild, a young man decides to chuck responsibility and live life on the road. He winds up in the Alaskan wilderness and dies of malnutrition.
Is it safe to say he was insane?

That's a really good question. It's safe to say that he had zero common sense. However, he didn't mean to kill himself. The plan was to survive off the wild. What if he did plan on just slowly starving himself to death? Would that have been insane? Are all people who kill themselves insane?

[thepaulo]

Does using violence to achieve a goal make one insane?

[LaBoob]

Does using violence to achieve a goal make one insane?

How can it be, when that's been the way of the world since the dawn of time? It's not insane as much as it simply is instinct.

[thepaulo]

Isn't it insane?
I'm not talking about instinct or self defense.
Is it insane to kill animals or human beings to achieve a perceived objective?

[RAAMONE]

In a recent film, Into the Wild, a young man decides to chuck responsibility and live life on the road. He winds up in the Alaskan wilderness and dies of malnutrition.
Is it safe to say he was insane?

i saw the movie a long time ago...but didnt he accidentally eat something poisonous? therefore not insanly and knowingly starving himself...but just fucking up

[ChrisBrown]

Isn't it insane?
I'm not talking about instinct or self defense.
Is it insane to kill animals or human beings to achieve a perceived objective?

How would you define 'sane'? I am just realizing how hard that question is.

[Furtherman]

In a recent film, Into the Wild, a young man decides to chuck responsibility and live life on the road. He winds up in the Alaskan wilderness and dies of malnutrition.
Is it safe to say he was insane?

Chris McCandless wasn't insane. Just unprepared and a selfish ego had him believing he could take on nature with such little experience.

[thepaulo]

tell me about it....it's driving me crazy.

[Furtherman]

How can it be, when that's been the way of the world since the dawn of time? It's not insane as much as it simply is instinct.

QFT.

Everyone is capable of violence when it comes to survival. Everyone.

[ChrisBrown]

tell me about it....it's driving me crazy.

ha!

[LaBoob]

Isn't it insane?
I'm not talking about instinct or self defense.
Is it insane to kill animals or human beings to achieve a perceived objective?

In the sense that it's not "right" according to the society we live in, yeah, it's insane. But on a larger level, I think it's a part of the human unconscious. We have all felt like using violence to gain something besides food or to protect our well-being. Some of us choose to act on it, some don't. I don't know if acting on it makes you insane...

It's a great example of self-importance, and thinking that other people aren't as important as you are, which, I believe, is also part of the human unconscious. Instead of calling these people "insane", it might be more appropriate to say that their view of society is skewed towards themselves, and that they should open their eyes and see that they are really not that important at all.

The town I grew up in, Manalapan, was named for the Lene Lenape, the Native American tribe that lived in that area, which translates to "real people"... tribes often looked at themselves as the true people, which, in turn, made killing neighboring tribes easier, as they weren't "real people". I think we do this today, thinking of ourselves as the "real people", when we really are all equally in the shit.