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[Dec. 14th, 2007|08:27 pm] |
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The following constitutes old news but I feel it is relevant enough to the purpose of this journal that it still warrants mention. A 13 year old girl committed suicide in an apparent direct response to an internet hoax in which she was convinced she had found a male friend. This imaginary friend, "Josh," ended the "friendship" after a month and told her that among other things the world would be better off without her. She ran to her room and quickly hung herself. The family which includes the people responsible for this prank has been the target of vigilante-style attacks, such as having bricks thrown through their window, and some are calling for prosecution or legislation make their actions criminal. I for one do not believe this is called for, as it seems the harm done to the girl was through her own decisions, however much it was influenced by the cruelty of others. I expect however that there are many here who have undergone something similar to the reported serious depression the girl was suffering from and I would like to hear your views on the matter. |
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[Dec. 5th, 2007|10:13 pm] |
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I have located a fascinating test which unlike most internet tests seems to be offer reasonable measure of personality disorders. I encourage you all to take this test and post your results here. |
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[Oct. 25th, 2007|01:22 pm] |
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I have occasionally been accused of being too ready to impose my judgment and opinions on others, so for this post I am going to attempt something slightly different. I am willing to listen to why you think you don't need therapy, religion, or any other form of incitement to self-improvement. I would like to hear what you think of your lives, and if you truly believe that you/they do not need any improvement, how exactly it is that you are so perfectly content. |
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[Jul. 10th, 2007|12:22 pm] |
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The other day I was listening to NPR and there was an interview with a Ph.D.-holding voodoo priest; I kid you not. As he and the interviewer discussed what I had assumed was a motley collection of superstitions I recognized profound truth in his words. From what is on the surface a polytheistic tradition, he spoke of God being utterly neutral, completely unaffected by good and evil; he could have been reading straight from Hindu or Buddhist scripture. He explained how his religious tradition had always held that everything in the world is composed of energy (as modern physics indeed tells us it is), described the divine as a mirror in which one sees one's own face, and told of his experience treating completely illiterate half-starved stick-hut-dwelling Negroes as gurus, explaining that though he had a Ph.D. and they could not even read, it was they who truly had knowledge. I finally understood the unity at the core of all legitimate religious tradition; all people can and must improve their situations only through their own efforts. I see this emphasis on universal potential and personal responsibility in the core of Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, and the list goes on. Perhaps I should change the name of this journal to get_religion, as I see it as good advice for everyone, especially in the sense expressed in, among others, the book Jesus for the Non-Religious. |
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[May. 11th, 2007|10:50 pm] |
I have been investigating the modern cultural phenomenon known as "emo" and am developing a psychometric scale for measuring the personality traits indicative of membership in this subculture. This is a work in progress and by no means a perfect measure; I appreciate any and all suggestions for its improvement and will likely be making progressive edits to it. Following are a set of statements; please express your agreement or disagreement with them on the following scale unless they are specifically marked yes or no:
-3: strongly disagree
-2: disagree
-1: somewhat disagree
0: have no definite opinion
1: somewhat agree
2: agree
3: strongly agree
-I hate myself and am dissatisfied with my life.
-Weezer is composed of talented musicians.
-Fallout Boy is awesome.
-My life is a black abyss.
-I injure myself purposefully.
-People who criticize me just hate people who are different.
-People who are mostly happy just don't understand how dark the world really is.
-Romantic relationships are the most important thing in the world.
-I have threatened suicide. (yes or no)
-I have dyed my hair black (yes or no)
-The band Jimmy Eat World has very meaningful lyrics that I can relate to.
-I wear black eyeliner (yes or no)
-My screename(s) contain(s) the letter x. (yes or no)
-I was distressed to hear that My Chemical Romance got food poisoning while on tour recently.
I will process these numbers to find your score on the emo scale. |
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| Update on the Miss_aveline situation |
[Mar. 23rd, 2007|11:08 am] |
I am happy to report that the ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) miss_aveline drama has resolved itself and that no harm has come to jazzriff. On a side note, hopefully his recent departure from LJ will once and for all put to rest rumors that him and I are one in the same.
My examination of this drama would be over, except that wetwork (the same person who was banned for posting jazzriff's contact information on medeanyxgray's journal) initiated what is known as a "denial of service" attack against Encyclopedia Dramatica in a forceful attempt to again, resolve this conflict through force instead of compromise. The sad irony of the situation is that this occurred while in Arbchat, a procedure, as I understand it, put in place explicitly to encourage and foster compromise. Further, the attack, while successful in achieving the desired outcome, came at a cost to the co-location facility and the sites hosted on it. Is it right?
It's my understanding that the present escalation is being met with an equal and opposite reaction by the internet community. I believe this is where the phrase "an eye for an eye leaves everyone blind" comes into play.
There has been a great deal of projecting from wetwork and others in regards to jazzriff (and myself!) being sociopaths. With all these threats, rants, and attacks, it seems hypocritical to say the least. That said, I would like to open the floor to discuss the justifications, thoughts on the resolution, et cetera. |
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| murder as a conflict resolution strategy? |
[Mar. 1st, 2007|05:37 pm] |
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I have noticed that there seems to be some type of conflict concerning the deceased miss_aveline aka sad_little_scar; I have been made aware of violent threats made by ava_kiss, wetwork and medeanyxgray toward jazzriff. I for one do not understand the purpose of these murderous comments. Apparently an Encyclopedia Dramatica article was found to be provocative (as the entire site is intended to be, as far as I am aware, so I find this unsurprising) and the response was to attempt to solve this objection not through discussing things with the administrators in an arbchat as is the current policy, but through frivolous legal threats and threats of torture and murder. I am curious as to how people who harbor such destructive impulses are able to contain them in ordinary life sufficiently to avoid incarceration, and also as to why violence is seen as a legitimate response to words posted on the internet. The results of any attempt at murder would probably be scientifically interesting to say the least, and likely catastrophic for the would-be killers, but I am curious as to the psychological motivations in play in this situation. |
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[Jan. 4th, 2007|05:04 pm] |
Lately I have noticed many people coming here to make poorly-articulated, angry and disparaging comments not only towards me but towards great historical figures such as Adolf Hitler. What exactly provokes this? If I am simply being used as an outlet for unrelated frustrations, that is understandable, but it seems that some of the complainants believe that they are somehow being harassed, when they are the ones choosing to comment on my journal. Are some of you suffering from a persecution complex? I can think of no other reasonable explanation for this behavior, as I have made no comments or posts anywhere outside my own journal.
Edit: It is possible that gettherapy (note the lack of an underscore in the name) has been generating resentment against this account through their similar screenname and userinfo; if so please let me know. |
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[Oct. 3rd, 2006|12:52 pm] |
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I recently came across this distressing post and was distressed by the amount of hatred expressed, and the suggestion that joking about something suggests that it is not taken seriously. Is this a common opinion among those of you who are reading this? Do any of you share this wide-ranging hatred of those who disagree with you? I am particularly concerned by the perception of a black-and-white between joking about something and considering it to be serious. I know many people, including those who have access to this journal, who frequently joke about subjects such as racism, rape and murder, but I very much doubt that any of them would seriously deny these to be legitmate problems in the world, and many of them have demonstrated that they care quite deeply about societal injustice. I hope that those of you who labor under this black/white delusion will consider that things are more complex than this, and that those of you who suffer from the potentially crippling hatred of those who you disagree with can recognize it as a problem and work to change it before it goes too far. |
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[Jul. 31st, 2006|05:58 pm] |
I realize that there are major psychological barriers to admitting you need help, and that short of being forcefully committed to an asylum, you mentally ill people aren't going to get the care you need without a serious effort on your part. When I examine the "logic" of many people, particularly those with diagnosed and/or admitted disorders, I notice that it is in large part based on unrecognized assumptions, for example "I have to feel this way" or "if you don't accept me like this, you hate me and are a horrible person." The people making statements based on these assumptions often have deluded themselves into taking these fundamentally irrational beliefs as the basis of their thought. I can sympathize with this, as like anyone else I have fundamental beliefs which I would not very well be able to reduce, simplify or explain the roots of (for example, genocide is wrong, rape is wrong, and murder for personal profit is wrong), and at one point also held the erroneous beliefs endlessly hammered into my head by public propaganda (for example, drugs are "evil," and everyone who uses drugs has some kind of mental deficiency and is a "loser"). But in order to take a step on the path to recovery, you must recognize your fundamental assumptions which in many cases distort your perception of reality.
Much of the activity of the average human mind is unperceived by the person whose mind is in question, and herein lies a more fundamental barrier. How can you let go of the assumptions shaping and filtering your thoughts if you cannot perceive them? The answer of course is that you cannot, unless you make an effort to understand what exactly is going on in your mind. So here is an exercise I would like you all to try:
-Find a place and time where no one is likely to suddenly distract you, and close your eyes.
-Take a deep breath, hold it for a moment and exhale.
-Repeat this, keeping as still as possible and focusing on your breathing.
-You may be tempted to worry about potential future events or agonize over the past, but try simply to focus on the present. Forcing your worries and habitual thoughts to be silent will only give you headaches, so simply ignore them and they can drift away on their own.
-Continue for about 20 minutes focusing on the blackness and your breathing. With practice, this will allow you to look honestly at yourself without knee-jerk reactions such as "I was made this way and I'll stay this way" or "anyone who criticizes me hates me." With practice, you can admit that you have a problem, and either get a professional psychiatrist or, if the results seem especially encouraging, continue this practice until you find that you can think at least as clearly as anyone around you.
This is not some miracle or supernatural bullshit, but I assure you it offers a definite benifit. It's something you can practice on your own without having to overcome any fears you may have of pharmaceuticals, honest in-person discussion, or bearded old men who occasionally use large words and may confuse you with their talk of borderline disorders and self-hatred issues. To practice relaxation/meditation does not even require admitting you have a problem; hundreds of millions of people do it and are not the least bit crazy. Try it; I think you will find it allows you to see yourself, and the world, a little more clearly. |
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[Jul. 15th, 2006|05:14 pm] |
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This is a journal intended to encourage the mentally ill to get actual help instead of joining and creating online communities of similar people to feel good about and reinforce their illness. I am concerned by the flood of livejournal communities which seem to serve only to offer "huggles" to those who will accept them in place of actual help, and thus prevent the afflicted from facing their problems in any real way. If I have added you, it means that you are one of the lj proudly-ill contingent or you are someone who I think might be interested in this. |
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