Searching for a psychological category to match with this person's issues.


Posted by Andy on Apr 06, 2004 at 23:32
(63.90.238.145)

Noo... Not the movie. I'm gathering opinions about the mind I was dealing with in the following example.

I have here an AOL instant messenger log from a conversation with a user from one of my webpage projects.

I changed his name from his initial screenname to "P1:" to protect identities. I'm "VectorC5," naturally.

P1: youre itchy
P1: quick. get it
P1: uh theres another
VectorC5: o_o
P1: foot
VectorC5: o___o... WHAT?
P1: all gone
P1: did you feel itchy?
P1: geez smile much? o.x
P1: wheres the dim light coming from in your house?
VectorC5: o_@... Do you make sense very often or just kind'a bang around from topic to topic like a pinball? o_o
P1: im trying to sence things around you..seeing if i can get in
VectorC5: Well you're doing a terrible job.
P1: i see a dim light ANdy.. and somewhere around you the color white...wheres the white
VectorC5: e_e Wow, how profound. o_o
Considering every house everywhere has white coming from some source or another and most houses everywhere have a dim light somewhere too.
...
except me, considering the only lights on in my house are the room I'm in, and their quite bright.
P1: somethnes dim somewhere...
P1: and no not your walls...
P1: itsn ot eve na solid object
VectorC5: ... perhaps between your ears? o.o
P1: no ass..for real
P1: im seeing something materialistic thats white
VectorC5: If anything in any of our conversations is real, this is farthest from it. o_o
VectorC5: @_o... dude... that could be ANYTHING.
P1: youretoo firmly planted into reality..
P1: youre a touch cookie.. igotta come back to you
VectorC5: And you're insane. o_@
P1: hehe..poor andy
VectorC5: O_o I'm not the one making up etherial and broad "readings" that mean nothing.
P1: no, youre jsut a realist.
P1: do you believe in God?
VectorC5: Something materialistic and white but I can't see it because I'm planted in reality... the realm of material things. o_@
P1: what color is your shirt
VectorC5: I believe that believing in god doesn't make any difference one way or the other. o_o
My shirt be blue. o-o
P1: thpught so
VectorC5: Sure you did. o_@
P1: isntthere some material article on the ground in that room?
P1: hey believe what you want
P1: if you need proof just ask Tashii oki?
VectorC5: On the ground in this room....... that is white....
...... OF COURES THERE IS. @_o that's not the point. The probability of there being something white on the ground in a room with a 22 year old single college student is like 300%!
VectorC5: o_O Just because Tashii might be gullible enough to swallow this bunk doesn't make it proof.
P1: **smirks** I rest my case
VectorC5: XD I rest mine too. o_@
P1: HA
VectorC5: Tell me WHAT is white and on my floor then, mister psychic master of the etherial realm. o_@
P1: we will see Andrew
VectorC5: My name isn't andrew, y'know. o_o...
P1: Andymac?
VectorC5: o_o... no
P1: who cares
VectorC5: Oh do tell me more about my environment. o_o
P1: i decided to not to.
VectorC5: Sure you did. XP
P1: i dont like your attitude right now o.x im sorry
VectorC5: XD Oh come on man. @_o You pretend to be able to... @_o... "get in" as you put it, and you use the most obvious and likely predictions possible.
Dim lights. WOoOoo. o_@ Most people have one or two. A desk lamp! ... I just happened to not.
And something white. @_o... which is even more ridiculous than dim light.
P1: **turns away for you, his back facing you. sign that he isnt listening, but he respects thsat youretalking and wont heckle you**
VectorC5: XP; *snicker*

Obviously, I wasn't taking him at all seriously. I was actually starting to have fun when he finally gave up and ignored me, but looking back on this old log got me wondering.

After reading through the example... Give me your opinion. What could cause someone to actually believe they could determine my surroundings without even using psychological games, or to go so far as to think they could tell me what sensations I was experiencing?

Would it be simple self-delusion from a bored mind or is there actually a psychological name some analyst came up with for this kind of thing? Call it idle curiosity at work, but I'd like to know any opinions anyone has.

In case you were wondering, some of what you saw were emoticons. For instance:
o_o is a stare
e_e is rolling eyes
o.x is a dejected look
o_O is raising an eyebrow
o_@ is an extremely raised eyebrow
XD is a squinty eyed smile

Follow Ups:


Post a Followup

Name:
E-Mail:

Subject:
Comments:

[ Forum ] [ New Message ]