Sorry to be pedantuc, but it’s personal testimony alone that I can’t accept as sufficient to support claims, nor can you of course. Hence my question asking if you’d accept the “personal testimony” of someone, that they’d seen a mermaid, for example.
The claim is meaningless without specifics to examine. I can only say that were it demonstrated that a belief was irrational, or based on irrational argument or unsound reasoning, i would have no choice but to discard it.
NB This bare accusation has no relevance to your claims, nor does it lend them any credence.
So I can’t invest belief in a claim that is entirely devoid of supporting objective evidence.
That is correct.
This is irrelevant to the claim it has a separate causal agent, a deity with intent and agency. Objective evidence it is an emergent property of a functioning brain has been demonstrated, none has been demonstrated for a deity, or that a deity is possible.
Your quote has removed the context, go back and quote the rest.
I don’t on every subject, just claims that are unsupported by any objective evidence.
Absolutely not. My condition is a curse. I don’t impose my worldview on anyone.
The coping mechanisms I’ve developed over time include - I mean … I have a good 20 mental coping mechanisms I resort to when I get “voicy”.
Now, I could recommend some of them to people just to battle everyday intrusive or obsessive thoughts. But I never have. I can think of some breath meditation techniques which are unique to my condition which I’ve had to develop over the course of the illness which might help general intrusive or obsessive thoughts. Mainly where on the nose to put one’s focus. I have seven distinct parts of the nose which accomplish seven distinct changes in thought patterns. Again, this sounds idiosyncratic to my condition … maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. One spot is the tip and one are the lower nostrils (both recommended by mainstream Buddhists).
Here nor there. I appreciate your understanding.
Oh! My golly. You know a few schizophrenics and you’re qualified to comment on my experience?
I’ve met some very ill people as well. However, a psychiatrist of mine once said she’d never met anyone as ill as myself. Delusion wise, hallucinations - from auditory to visual to tactile. I have seen Hell’s you’d have to visit to understand.
But I’ve never cracked. I’ve never been that unkempt guy on the streets who is taking to himself. I’ve maintained the same job over the last 15 years, I own a house, my wife and I are happily married. We met in the psyche ward. No one gave us a chance. That was 20 years ago.
My life and my condition are a curse. Everyday is an immense struggle to keep going. You’ll never have the chance to meet or talk to a schizophrenic as cogent as my self. I have a sense of insight into my illness which allows me to function in the world.
When I tell you this: the voice is intelligent, funny, intentional, and demonstrates agency - the question for you (since you appear to be able to pass judgment on me) is “how”? How does a mere “hallucination” demonstrate or possess agency?
Totally agree. He probably never existed but is obviously based on one or more schizophrenic people. Just as Jesus was probably based on one or more characters with Jerusalem Syndrome.
“The authors have analyzed the religious figures Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and St. Paul from a behavioral, neurologic, and neuropsychiatric perspective to determine whether new insights can be achieved about the nature of their revelations. Analysis reveals that these individuals had experiences that resemble those now defined as psychotic symptoms, suggesting that their experiences may have been manifestations of primary or mood disorder-associated psychotic disorders. The rationale for this proposal is discussed in each case with a differential diagnosis. Limitations inherent to a retrospective diagnostic examination are assessed. Social models of psychopathology and group dynamics are proposed as explanations for how followers were attracted and new belief systems emerged and were perpetuated.”
I have been that unkempt guy on the streets. I still live on the streets 20 years later (well, technically I live in a van which could be called a mobile home by the imaginative). Rent is so expensive nowadays. I prefer to keep my earnings in the bank. Looking at buying a yacht right now. Hallucinations can be intense and triggered by many things. I’ve experienced them. Taps on the shoulder but nobody is there. Visions of trucks coming down the highway that fade away. All sorts. Nobody else ever sees them though.
I dream about it. I dream about abandoning all of the stress and responsibilities of life. I’d go full beggar. If the weather wasn’t so damn cold in the winters up here; if I could stand to leave my wife. It sounds shitty, but I think about it, even though I’d be leaving her high and dry … when I’m fifty five or so I stand to cash in on a retirement fund. So, I might go homeless two months out of the year - just to follow the Buddhist path (in my own way). That’s enough about me. Nice to meet you. Welcome to the forum.
I’m actually referring to the hundreds of people locked up for public safety after they heard voices telling them to kill someone. Voices they claim are demons, gods, prophets or aliens etc. Good meme. Haven’t seen that one before. Saw similar ones after I realised Abraham sounded liked a schizophrenic and did some googling on the topic. Wasn’t surprised to learn I wasn’t alone in thinking so.
I feel like the people who wrote the bible were probably already insane and were doing drugs to write what they wrote. The shit those people wrote is so dumb, it hurts.
