I was watching the movie ‘Adaptation’ (I haven’t finished, don’t spoil it ) and I noticed that when John Laroche starts explaining his ideas to Meryl Streep’s character she writes “Delusions Of Grandeur” in her notes… this confused and got me thinking, because as far as I could tell he just seemed to be dreaming big/hopeful for the future.
My question is this, not in the context of the movie but in general… What is the difference between Delusions of Grandeur and one dreaming really big about their future or possibilities? Is there some kind of defining characteristic that differentiates the two? If mental illness is clearly ruled out, then what is the difference? It seems as if ‘delusions of grandeur’ is only used in a negative manner when one person thinks the other cannot achieve their goals… Google/Searching doesn’t really give me much of a concise answer. What’s the dope on this?
I think if you are doing your analysis correctly, the key to recognizing delusions of grandeur isn’t found on how grand they are or are not. It’s in the lack on the part of the subject to appreciate any mechanism for achieving their dreams.
Ideas as simple as having a very nice dinner can be a delusion of grandeur, if the person envisioning it fails to understand the cost, the need for cooking abilities or access to a cook and so on.
Delusions of grandeur would be when you believe you are capable of something that you probably are not, and will never be, - and I would say the difference is the thought process driving the aim.
Dreaming big, setting yourself strenuous goals, etc, with the foreknowledge that it will be a challenge, is good. Doing the same because you think you’re better than everyone else, and cannot fail = delusions of grandeur.
I get pissed off when I hear things like this. People, even professionals who don’t think big will often accuse others of having delusions of grandeur. Believing something very big is possible and attempting to solve the problems that could make it possible is light years away from delusional. Unrealistic? Maybe so but so what. I saw something yesterday that warmed my heart. A group of young guys got together and released a program for collaboration called " Slack" I really hope they make it. I feel like they have developed the right type of infrastructure but haven’t quite put their finger on the dynamics and motivations of what make a culture of collaboration possible.
I don’t think that there’s any clear line between delusions of grandeur and dreaming big. Any grand plans that one has for the future can fall anywhere between 0% of happening and 100% of happening. Even plans with a very small chance of happening sometimes do work out just by luck. Even plans with a very large chance of happening sometimes don’t work out just by luck. Any single delusion of grandeur is just one possible symptom of mental problems, not a complete diagnosis by itself. Even mentally healthy people will sometimes have plans that are a little too grandiose:
THANK YOU! I feel the same way about it. I feel as if the term is used by those who cannot think past the present day or outside of the box, it seems to be fashionable for “professionals” to say this to someone who they feel is “beneath” them. :mad:
Something being viewed as a “delusion of grandeur” seems to be very pompous for the beholder. if something is unrealistic, it still has a great potential to become realistic, given the right motivation and materiel (if applicable). I understand how it can be used with psychiatrists, but in any other profession it seems, unprofessional and immature to use that term when speculating about a person or their plans. Alas this is GQ so besides my opinion, besides psychiatry are there any other professions where discerning whether a person has these “delusions” is a viable declaration? How would they define what is reachable and what is not? It seems to be a very linear judgement.
Seems to me that saying this about someone tells people more about the person saying it than the other. It is a kind of snobbery where the author is saying that the other person is inferior.
Well, it might be necessary for a bank which is deciding whether to loan money to someone for starting a business to estimate the probability that the business will succeed or fail. They would use this probability to decide how much interest to charge the person for the loan or whether to loan the person money at all. What the bank should say to the person (if they think it’s not worth it to loan them the money) is that they think the investment is too risky for the bank. They should never be using psychological terminology like “delusions of grandeur.” They’re a bank and not a psychological corporation.
“Delusions of Grandeur” are when a person believes they are something they demonstrably are not, such as the Queen of England or a God. That’s pretty fundamentally different from dreaming really big about the future.
There’s a difference between hoping for great things and planning to make them happen, and hoping for great things without a plan. A kid who says “I’m going to get good grades in school and work hard to get a scholarship to Harvard and spend years after graduation working my butt off to start my own business and earn enough money to live in a mansion when I grow up” is in a different boat than one who says “I’m going to sit around eating Cheetos until someone wealthy enough comes along and falls in love with me and marries me and I’m going to live in a mansion when I grow up”.
I would agree with this. I work in the criminal justice system and see folks on a regular basis who should be hospitalized, but are not. The " delusions of grandeur" that may be qualified as illness have nothing to do with ‘thinking outside the box’ or an 'idea that may be unique". They are the people who think they are the queen, or the president, or, more often (in my experience), a secret agent for the CIA or FBI. In fact, they are usually homeless, refuse to take any meds that may be prescribed and tend to cause trouble if confronted. It is a sad thing to see as they often have no family or friends to help them and just become a regular part of the criminal justice system.
Agreed. IOW Elon Musk seriously expecting he’ll go to Mars: Grandiose. LSLGuy seriously expecting he’ll go to Mars: delusional.
Most folks aren’t using using “delusions” as a formal psychiatric diagnosis, merely pointing out extreme wishful thinking. It’s more an accusation of smoke than it’s an observation of fire.
And yes, sometimes accusations of “delusions of grandeur” are simply dead-end people pulling the “crabs in a bucket” move on one of their more ambitious pals.
Zebras exist, but it is often said that when you hear hoofbeats you should anticipate horses, not zebras. Admittedly, context is everything. (You might need to rethink that aphorism on the African veldt).
Grandiose thinking is akin to interpreting hoofbeat sounds as meaning zebras are coming. Your head gets so wrapped up in the grand possibilities that you interpret things that would normally be given a much more mundane interpretation as if they corroborated the grand possibilities’ realization.
You go to a job interview, considering yourself to be a hotshot prospect. They tell you that you should be hearing something one way or the other by Friday. The weekend comes and goes and it’s Tuesday and not a peep, so obviously they’re wrapped in internal discussion about whether they can make you a salary offer that exceeds what they’ve previously budgeted, that’s the explanation for the delay.
I’m not fond of the term “delusions of grandeur” – in fact I’ve accused people of having “delusions of the lack of grandeur” on occasion – but grandiose thinking can encroach on your sense of reality when you’re attempting something major and you’re being fired-up and optimistic; and grandiose thinking can occasionally set you up in a bad way, because you aren’t predicting outcomes as accurately as you otherwise would.
Actually, that’s not quite right. A rabbit that thinks it’s a dragon is a delusion, but it’s not a delusion of grandeur unless the rabbit thinks dragons are “grander” than rabbits.
But this thread isn’t about what you are referring to. It asked what delusions of grandeur are. What you are talking about, is being (justly) annoyed with people who ERRONEOUSLY label something as a delusion of grandeur, simply because they can’t imagine it themselves, or even because they hope to discourage anyone from trying it.
) and I noticed that when John Laroche starts explaining his ideas to Meryl Streep’s character she writes “Delusions Of Grandeur” in her notes… this confused and got me thinking, because as far as I could tell he just seemed to be dreaming big/hopeful for the future.