I dunno. I used to have hallucinations and I kinda miss them now that I’m getting more sleep.
It doesn’t require a psychology degree to recognize that a person is making claims that do match reality. I’ve also seen enough psychiatric disorders close up to know that hallucinations are nothing to be jealous of. What alternative explanation do you have, genius? Do you think there’s any possibility that she really has a ghost friend?
Actually, that dice experiment provided incredible results.
Probably enough to convince a scientist that she was guessing better than random chance would be able to dictate.
But, not enough to indicate she was actually talking to a ghost who could see the dice independently of meenie.
She guessed like 10 out of 12 dice with 4-10 sides each. Even with coin flips that’s about a 1/1000 chance. This was probably 1/100000. Take that fucking specter to vegas and get him to look at some poker players blackjack dealer’s cards. That’s really incredible.
Never said otherwise, genius. Try reading my posts.
Has nothing to do with my post, and you damn well know it.
Of course not. Quit with the misdirection bullshit when you know that has nothing to do with my point.
Troll.
I don’t have any idea what your point IS then, dipshit. You agree that she’s either lying or delusional, but you’re getting pissed at me for saying she’s either lying or delusional? Does not compute.
I wish I could type slower then, because I’ve only said it twice in this thread. I’ll try again:
You don’t get to use the word “crazy”, then criticize the way anyone else in this tread interacts with meenie7. You clearly have no idea what is good for her from a psychological standpoint, so stop telling other people that they’re going about things the wrong way. You are in no position to make such claims.
Why not?
I know that doing nothing can’t be good for her and that getting checked out (which is all I’ve suggested) can’t be BAD for her. I also know that encouraging people to think that their hallucinations are real is stupid. You really have no point to make at all, do you? You’re flailing away with no real target or purpose.
I’m sorry if that upset you. I meant it in a light-hearted way. I have no idea why you would Pit her and accuse her of ‘‘jerking off’’ and most likely bullshitting us, and then turn around and feel like I was being profoundly insensitive for making a joke. I have no ill-will toward meenie whatsoever and I’m aware of the seriousness of neurological disorders. I have an uncle who is paranoid schizoaffective and another with Bipolar who just offed himself three months ago. But Jesus Christ, it’s not like I can reach through my computer monitor and force her to see a shrink. Sometimes you just gotta laugh.
I don’t understand you at all. Sometimes you seem really cool and other times you just seem like a totally mean-spirited human being. If you really thought she needed help I don’t see why you Pitted her in the first place. I thought it was a shitty thing to do and wasn’t really planning on becoming seriously involved in the conversation for exactly that reason. If you cared about her so goddamn much you would have PMed her or started a thread in MPSIMS, not started a Pit thread playing Jr. Detective.
I have no idea what meenie’s story is, what her motivations are for posting, whether she believes they are true or not, and whether her problem is neurological or she’s just having some fun. The only way for me to know the truth is if I had a personal relationship with her, which I do not. I took the story at face value – if she says she believes it is true, I am going to treat her as if she believes it is true and keep any judgments to myself. Even if I do get suspicious, I’m certainly not going to go and start a Pit Thread about it. It registers about a .5 on my Give a Fuck O’Meter. That’s out of like, a billion.
Diogenes: “Meenie7, you’re COMPLETELY FULL OF SHIT, and crazy. Oh oh, no, wait, olive. The way you used the word “jealous” in that one post was very irresponsible. That’s not how we talk to people who may have a mental disorder, okay. I’ve worked with such people, and I know that what is more appropriate is to call them a flat-out liar and crazy person. Everyone look at me, now.”
Heh. I’m hard-pressed to think of a less persuasive way to get someone to seek medical treatment than saying they’re COMPLETELY FULL OF SHIT.
“Broken leg, huh? WALK IT OFF!”
Well, maybe if they’re constipated…
Such insensitivity to the plight of the gastrointestinally challenged will not be tolerated here.
I didn’t Pit Meenie, I pitted the people who were humoring her.
Did anyone in that thread imply they believed her? There seemed to be a lot of well-intentioned holding her feet to the fire over there.
I am here. I have been reading along but refraining from posting as I thought about all this. I’m still not happy about the dice test because, if he was there, he should have gotten them all right. I’m trying to sort out how I feel about this, but Marcus and I have talked about it more and I feel a little better. Regardless of what else is going on, he does know how to comfort me.
How about making an appointment with a neurologist? Any progress with that?
There were a lot of people who failed to tell her she was COMPLETELY FULL OF SHIT, which is probably the same as humoring her. To some people.
And I must say, DtC, you must be made of money to not hesitate at the thought of visiting a neurologist. Even if I thought I needed to go to one, I’d be balking on financial reasons alone.
It’s been the weekend, you know. 
I have to look into which ones are covered by my insurance, and then decide if it’s worth the aggravation with certain people I know. (I know, I know, but if you think I’m weird and irrational, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet compared to some members of my personal circle.)
Why not avoid the aggravation altogether and just not tell them? What business is it of theirs anyways whether you see a doctor or not? Just do whatever you need to do to take care of yourself and don’t worry about what other people think – the Straight Dope included. From your posts I’m guessing that you realize something isn’t right, and of course that’s upsetting, but it doesn’t reflect badly on you as a person. If your brain is doing random crazy shit, that’s not your fault and nobody has any place judging you for it.
I totally get that you wouldn’t want to lose your friend. But if you really do have something neurological going on, I think the chances are rather high that it’s affecting more than just this relationship you have. It could be screwing with your entire reality. And I think you deserve to know the truth about what is real and what is not.
FOR FUCK’S SAKE, DIO!! What is your major malfunction???
I’ve only just read this pair of threads to amuse myself while the boards were down, so let’s recap to make sure I’ve got this right:
(1) Meenie7 claims to have a ghost friend. She admits this in a IMHO thread which was soliciting personal anecdotes only.
(2) When pressed for further information, Meenie7 admits to having severe abandonment issues, typically manifest in close personal relationships which abruptly end with no warning or explanation.
Okay, even I get it. The most likely scenario (applying Occam’s Razor here) is that “Marcus” is imaginary. It’s a bit of an oversimplification, but that’s the gist of it. Who knows, perhaps there’s even a germ of truth to Marcus’ previous incarnation as a human being – though I’d be more apt to wager that the “ghost” part of Marcus comes from a slice of Meenie7 psyche that she just now reconnected with. (Which isn’t all that different from a so-called “real” ghost, when you think about it.)
I think it’s quite admirable, really. Meenie7 has a social need which she fulfilled via imagination. Who cares about flesh & blood people, anyway? Real people are unpredictable and annoying. Problem solved, and she didn’t have to pay thousands of dollars to a shrink to get there. I’m a bit jealous, really – I’d love to share movie night with a 19th century Emo teen!
Ah, but that’s not good enough for you, apparently. In your unwarranted opinion:
Those are your exact words. Later you amended it to say, “either deceptive or delusional,” and now you’ve dropped the whole “possibly schizophrenic” angle in favor of suggesting she might have a brain tumor instead. You and your RandiFanatic cronies continue to jeer and pester her until she starts to break down. Very nice, very nice. :rolleyes: Where the fuck do you get off??
You state unequivocably that meenie’s story is “impossible”, and you say that “ghosts have no place in science.” (Forgive me if those aren’t your exact words, but in any case that’s the essence of what you said.) Perhaps you can cite the appropriate peer-reviewed scientific study that thoroughly disproves the existence of ghosts, once and for all?
You say that you’ve worked with schizophrenics in a professional setting, and imply that this experience grants you insight into meenie7’s personality…and yet you completely miss the fact that she is female, calling her “he” on multiple occasions.
Did it ever occur to you that meenie’s delusion – if that’s what it is – might be entirely benign, perhaps even beneficial? It’s quite common for perfectly rational people to sublimate their emotions and experiences into an “imaginary” form; just ask any Christian who believes in Jesus Christ without all the bullshit fundie claptrap. (I’m as anti-religious as they come, but even I’ll concede that all major religions have at least SOME germ of truth to them. If nothing else, believing in a personal savior or guardian angel is infinitely comforting. Trust me, I used to live that life.)
Bottom line…to the objective observer, “Marcus” may be completely imaginary. However, it is blatantly apparent that Marcus is very REAL to meenie (at least in a subjective sense) and he is also REAL to the friend who expressed interest in him. Like it or not, imagination is a very REAL part of humanity – after all, it’s a product of brain neurons, when you get right down to it. (You do believe in brain neurons, don’t you??)
Okay smartypants, time for you to fess up. What IS your professional and educational background? Many of us already know some of it (you’ve talked about it before) but we could all use a refresher course. (And I don’t want to put words into your mouth, in case anything’s changed recently.) What makes you qualified to even discuss this matter?