Ok, I know I should post links, but you guys know the threads.
This guy is clearly mentally ill. Not like “mentally ill like all of the rest of us”, but very clearly Solipsist* to the point of presenting a clear and present danger to himself and the people around him.
A long term reading of his posts will show you that the idea that ‘hurting other people is wrong’ is something he constantly denies. It is “other people” who tell him that it is wrong, so since other people don’t necessarily exist, he refuses to accept the answer. Clearly, there is no part of his own thought patterns that have worked through this and decided it is wrong to do evil.
Which makes me worry how many pets and small animals he’s tortured and killed and if he has hurt anyone. Yet.
Solipsism - is the philosophical idea that only one’s own mind is sure to exist. As an epistemological position, solipsism holds that knowledge of anything outside one’s own mind is unsure; the external world and other minds cannot be known and might not exist outside the mind. As a metaphysical position, solipsism goes further to the conclusion that the world and other minds do not exist.
In my discussion with him about morality and harming others, he said that it was only ‘other people’ who told him it was wrong and therefore that was not correct. :eek:
It’s stuff like this that raises the question of where I draw the line between “mental problem” and “character flaw.” I have had to deal with people like this in my life and the quandary drives me crazy, as does the inevitable failing of the individual to seek any kind of help.
That’s an area that is often occupied by Personality Disorders.
(When I first began doing my own assessment and diagnosis, several experienced clinicians told me how best to diagnose a personality disorder: “You’ll know it when you see it.” I was entirely annoyed at the time…but goddamn if they weren’t right.)
.
I read some of his threads ( like 3). He certainly has a distinctive idea about the world he finds himself in. I don’t want to be rude, but it’s kinda creepy.
I take issue with this statement. Often times, what you see on the surface with someone with a Personality Disorder, at least some of the PDs, is a very misleading picture of the person struggling with the disorder. Unless you know the intricacies of the particular disorder and how it relates to the person with it, judging the person on their outward behaviors alone is problematic at best and harmful at worst.
I never search the dude’s threads out but I can’t help but notice the subject of the OP’s ire posts threads quite frequently. As someone who regularly posts here, I’m surprised you haven’t noticed Machinaforce before.
The thread title states that Machinaforce needs an intervention. The OP makes the case, however, that Machinaforce is dangerously mentally ill.
My question more properly rendered would be, did the OP actually intend for the Dope to stage an intervention, or is this thread a warning to avoid Machinaforce, particularly in real life because he’s one scary dude?
My own impression is that he is easily influenced by depressing blogs and strange youtube videos, and brings his somber young self here to ponder the imponderable. Sometimes it’s interesting. Sometimes I want to tell him to come back after college. I can just picture him reading Nietzsche and feeling all nihilistic. What is the point of it all anyway? woe Get out of the house kid! Have some fun! See a movie, take a walk. I promise there is more to life than the unhappiness blog.
ETA: What Wordman said while I was typing this up. Not sure he needs a pitting. I think he’s just young and wandering a bit.